Cassandra
by sonicarutha
Summary: When Haru and Yuki are kidnapped, they are thrown into a world of torture that they never thought possible. Now everyday is a battle just to stay alive as no member of the zodiac is safe from the pain of how a group wants to kill them: like animals.
1. The Dream

**Title:** Cassandra  
**Pairing:** This chapter contains slight Haru/Yuki and Hatori/Shigure  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:** This chapter doesn't really seem like it's Rated M, but as the story progresses, it will become more obvious. There is also slight OOC, language, and some talk of violence  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Fruits Basket**, Natsuki Takaya does.

* * *

Blood spattered behind his eyes as he could feel the sharp sensation of pain rolling through this body furiously. One by one, every single member of the family fell lifeless as four figures stood before them. The leader of the pack laughed viscously as he looked at his conquest, his dark onyx eyes sending chills through the air as he lifted up at blood covered sword. 

With that thought Souma Yuki sprung up in his bed, sweat rolling down his body, the thought of the blood running through his mind hurriedly until he couldn't see straight. He had experienced nightmares before, but never had he experienced one to this degree. What could it have possibly meant? He closed his eyes tightly as he tried to think what this vision was trying to tell him.

He lay back on his bed as he tried to convince himself it was just a dream. As he took deep breaths, trying to slow his heart rate down, he knew that it was something more. It was almost like a premonition to warn him of a future that he knew nobody wanted. Slowly, he shut his eyes trying to forget the image, only to be plagued by the sight of blood the whole night.

0o0o0o0o0o0

His mind was a blur the next day as well. As he walked out of the door, he couldn't even focus on Shigure's questions to him. He couldn't think of anything as he looked at his cousin except for the blood that was rolling out of his body. He cringed every time he closed his eyes, trying to block out the thoughts of death from his mind. Yet it proved to be futile.

It had been silent for him all day, nobody spoke to him. They all must have known what he was feeling. The day was so surreal, to the point where he had to question whether he was still awake or if the dream had taken him over, suffocating him to death. The moments that passed pulled the theory in either way, leaving his mind in a heated war.

As he walked the halls getting ready to go home, he couldn't help but feel pain rolling through his body. What was that dream? What did it mean? Was it trying to tell him the future? Was that all really going to happen? He continued to walk as he tried not to answer any of those questions. He knew that he wouldn't want to know.

He was almost out the door until he felt a hand fall on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" the person asked him, his hand tightening on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Haru," Yuki stated, he knew that Haru had been noticing since the morning that there was something wrong with him. Haru never missed a beat when it came to Yuki.

He tried to walk past his cousin only to be pulled back yet again. He looked into Haru's grey eyes and saw a slight look of worry within them. He knew that everyone was aware of the pain that he was going through, but he also knew that Haru didn't need to know about the dreams he had been having. They were just dreams, nothing more.

"You don't seem alight," Haru continued.

"I said I'm fine," Yuki snapped, turning to him as he walked out of the school. "I told you that already. Why can't you just believe me?"

"Because your eyes are saying otherwise," Haru stated as his defense.

"Stop trying to get into this," Yuki breathed. "It's nothing."

"Then stop making it seem like it's a big deal. If it was nothing, you would tell me," Haru argued, his voice still not above a conversational tone, Black Haru still not sliding through the cracks of his sanity.

Yuki sighed as he continued to walk forward. "Just take my word for it…"

"Yuki, I have never seen you this pale before," Haru stated, noting the physical appearance of his older cousin. "There's something that you aren't telling any of us, but we're here for you if you need us."

That was a fact. They were always there for each other when they all needed it, but this was different. In his dream they had all tried to help him, but they had all fallen down into a pool of blood. No one could stop this. If it were to be a reality, Yuki would have to try to prevent it before it got out of hand.

Every step that he took reminded him of that dream. How could he watch as every member of the Zodiac was killed? He could never allow himself to watch as his family was murdered. But he knew that they would try to ask him what's wrong. So he was going to try to avoid them, and everything that they were trying to say.

As he arrived as the house he walked quickly through the door, almost sprinting, leaving Haru behind him. He couldn't bear to think of what was going to happen, and he saw that every time he looked at his face. It hurt him, but he would have to shut himself out until the dreams stopped.

"Yuki!" Haru cried out watching him walk up the stairs to his room.

"What happened at school today?" Shigure asked, noticing Yuki's peculiar behavior.

Haru shook his head, looking up at the stairs. "I have no clue what's going on in Yuki's head these days."

He started to walk up the stairs, his eyes focusing on what was ahead. The mystery of what was going on with Yuki had consumed everyone's lives to the point where they had gone out of their way to try to figure it out. Haru walked until he was outside of Yuki's door, his body moving to fall up against it, his back rest on the wood of the door.

"What's really going on?" Haru asked as he leaned up against the door. "There's something that you're not telling us. We're all worried about you, Yuki. You don't have to hide what's going on inside of your head right now."

"I don't want to scare you," Yuki breathed as he sat on his bed behind the door, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Nothing you can say will scare me away," Haru breathed.

Yuki closed his eyes and sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you," his whole body froze as he tried to find the easiest way to tell him what was going through his head. "I had a dream that we're all going to die."

Haru's body shook as he heard those words pass Yuki's lips. "You should have told us, Yuki…"

"I know, I just…" he took a deep breath. "I didn't want to scare you…"

"Why are you trying to run from me? I'm always there for you when you need me, Yuki. I would never abandon you because of a dream," Haru breathed.

The door then opened, Yuki's eyes locking with Haru's as he turned to look at him. "I didn't want you to get terrified by all of this. I know it's just a dream, but it frightened me, I didn't want the same reaction for you."

"I know," Haru stood up as he moved toward Yuki. "But I'll be here if you get scared again," he walked through the door into Yuki's room. "I'll always be here for you."

The moment Haru walked into the room, a sense of comfort rolled through Yuki's body. He didn't have to be scared anymore by a dream. There was life outside of a moment of fear. There was the reality that Haru was always going to be there for him.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"The impurities have existed for too long," a man stated as he looked upon his three subordinates. "The time to strike is drawing nearer."

A blond woman laughed as she heard the words that the man had stated. "Finally, it's about time we got to do some real action. All of this planning was starting to become a pain in my ass."

"Be more patient," a redheaded woman reprimanded as she looked over at her comrade. "When the time comes we should stay with the plan and avoid useless casualties."

"How noble of you, _princess_," the blond stated with a chuckle. "But you know damn well that there will never be a real war without some casualties. And those casualties should be harsh. Your tortuous ways do nothing for me."

"What was that you bitch!" the redhead shouted.

"Hey!" a young man called out. "When are you two going to stop fighting?" he bowed before his master. "When is the time going to come?" He took a deep breath before looking into his master's eyes. "Katsu-sama?"

Katsu looked down at his subordinates, a smile coming to his face. "We'll go tomorrow morning, when they least expect it…" he chuckled lightly as his subordinates all starting to grin. "Tomorrow the rat will be mine."

Laughter filled the room as all four of them looked forward to the day when they could start their plan. The onslaught was only beginning, but oh was it going to be satisfying.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Haru's eyes opened suddenly as a chill rolled through his body. He looked around the room to see what was happening, why he was having sensations like this. His eyes fell onto Yuki who was snuggling deeply into his chest, breathing softly as he slept. The horror that had been rolling through his body had died down while he was in his embrace.

He ran a hand through Yuki's hair as he held the older boy closer to his chest. He wasn't going to let anything hurt him, no matter what this force that was rolling through him was. The nightmare that Yuki had spoken of made him feel uneasy. Haru never was one to believe in the supernatural like this, but he had a feeling it could have been a premonition.

As he thought about the events that Yuki had spoken of, it made it obvious that he had to relax. It was just a dream. He shouldn't make too much out of it. He closed his eyes and attempted to go back to sleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Shigure sat outside of the house, watching as the stars glittered in the sky. He closed his eyes feeling the breeze brush gently up against his face, caressing the flesh tenderly. This had been a difficult day. Since the moment that Yuki had that look on his face, he knew that there was something that was happening, something that he would never be able to stop.

Footsteps came closer to him as his eyes opened, a smile gracing to his face. "You came…"

"Of course I came," Hatori stated, walking closer to him. "You made it seem urgent on the phone," he sat down next to Shigure. "This is serious, right. This isn't another one of your excuses to talk about nothing, is it?"

"No," Shigure answered. "This is serious."

Hatori sighed as he looked over at Shigure. "What is it? It must be extremely serious to make you so frantic."

"It's Yuki," Shigure stated bluntly. "He's been acting strangely. I think that he might be hiding something from us. I don't know what it is, but I have a fear that it's something threatening."

Hatori took a deep breath, placing a hand on Shigure's shoulder, the other man shuddering up against his touch. "It's probably not that serious. If it was life threatening, he would have told you by now. He must have good reason not to say anything."

As Shigure was about to respond, a chill went through his body, freezing him right where he sat. His eyes looked up at the stars again as he thought back to the chill. It didn't feel right. Making eye contact with Hatori, he knew that the doctor had felt the brush of cold air as well.

"It got cold all of a sudden," Shigure breathed, his body still stiffening.

Hatori nodded as he moved closer to him, his eyes closing loosely. "Yeah."

As the chill left, Shigure's eyes moved to look at the windows behind them. There was something wrong. He could feel it deep within himself, something that he was going to happen, something dangerous, something that was going to change their lives forever.

* * *

There will be more chapters to come after this. And happy New Year, may 2008 bring bright days to everyone. 


	2. Yuki

**Pairing:** This chapter contains slight Haru/Yuki  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:** There is also slight OOC, minor language, minor violence, and blood  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Fruits Basket**, Natsuki Takaya does.

* * *

Yuki's eyes opened only to be surprised that the cold chill from the night before had diminishes into the past. He looked around, watching as the sun was shining through the window, all of the fear that he had of their demise finally gone. He wasn't sure why it left so quickly, whether it was truly just a nightmare or if it was the fact that Haru had stayed the night with him. 

Haru was more help than Yuki thought he would be. Just a moment lying up against his warmth was enough to calm the demons that had threatened him for so long. Even now in his embrace, he felt as though he could make it throughout the day. And for just a little while longer he stayed in bed to hear the sound of his younger cousin breathing, to feel the gentle beating of his heart.

Just as the story of the Zodiac had stated, the ox did the unthinkable for the rat, giving him the opportunity to be first, being deemed unintelligent for the feat. But unlike the "dirty rat", Yuki was grateful for Haru's guidance. He would be lost without him.

Knowing that he was wasting too much time, Yuki left Haru's embrace, moving closer to the door. As he descended the stairs he heard the voice of someone who he thought would never come to this house unless it was an emergency.

"Hatori?" he asked himself as he moved down the stairs even faster. As he arrived at the bottom, he saw the doctor sitting next to Shigure. All the fears that he had came back for a second as he looked forward, Hatori would never come over here just to talk.

"Good morning, Hatori," Yuki breathed as he walked forward, noticing the dragon look up at him. "I didn't know you came here…"

"I was looking for Hatsuharu," Hatori stated calmly, not hinting at the fact that he had stayed over due to paranoia that he shared with Shigure. "He didn't come home last night. I wanted to know that he was alright."

Yuki looked at the two adults, knowing that they were curious about what had happened, knowing that they knew about the nightmare. He could tell from all of the extinguished cigarettes in the ashtray before them and the infectious smell of coffee that they had been up all night talking about what it could have been. They were clueless and foolish. They didn't want to know what the dream was about, it would be enough to keep them within their houses for the rest of their lives.

Yet even in the wake of all of this pain, Yuki looked out the window and saw that the dark clouds had cleared. There was nothing but happiness outside, nothing but hope that the dream had descended into darkness where it belonged. As long as there was light, there was no way he could be haunted any longer.

"I have to go to school," he stated as he grabbed his bag and walked toward the stairs. "It was nice seeing you Hatori," he looked at Haru as he moved toward the stairs, his heart racing as he saw the look in his eyes. "Hi…" he walked past him quickly, leaving a blank look on the younger boy's face.

Haru's eyes then looked at the table to see Hatori. "What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you. You didn't come home last night. Did you get lost?" Hatori asked as he looked over at the ox. "Or did something come up?"

Haru scoffed at the man's questions and concerns, sick of hearing him talk with that tone. "You're not my father, Hatori, stop acting like it. I did get lost, so I decided to stay the night. Stop worrying about it."

The dragon quickly unsheathed a cigarette and placed it between his lips, igniting it quickly as his eyes closed. "You should come home today, everyone was worried about you. We thought something happened to you."

Haru remembered the dream that Yuki had, if those thoughts were even close to the thoughts that were running through Hatori's mind, then Haru knew that he was more than worried, he was terrified. He looked up at the doctor, his heart sinking as he realized that he wasn't pushing this time, he wasn't trying to control him, he was genuinely worried.

"I will," Haru breathed. "I'm sorry that I made you worry…"

Hatori was about to say something to Haru as they were interrupted with the arrival of Kyou. Immediately as the cat came down, Haru moved to the door walking away from the conversation. Hatori's eyes moved to the cat, noticing that he was looking right at him, a scoff passing his lips.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kyou asked as he looked at Hatori. "Don't you have something better to do? Did you stay the night or something?"

Shigure laughed at that outburst, his eyes looking up at Kyou. "Now, Kyou-kun, you know that we can't just kick Haa-san out, you really should respect your elders. It was cold last night," he closed his eyes as he sighed. "Too cold for anyone to be outside. Just thinking about…"

"Damn it! Shut the hell up!" Kyou breathed as he looked at Shigure, quickly grabbing his school bag. "Where's Tohru, I would hate for her to be late to school."

"She's already on her way," Hatori breathed as he took a sip of coffee, his eyes closing as he thought about the chill in the air. He was never one to believe in premonitions, but for once he was starting to question that. "Yuki should be leaving soon."

Kyou rolled his eyes in disgust at that name. "Then I'll have to get on the road before that damn rat does," he walked toward the door without even saying goodbye, the two adults looking into their coffee cups, Hatori nervously taking a drag of his cigarette.

Hatori moved to put out his cigarette as opened his eyes, looking up at Shigure. "I don't feel sure about this. Something seems to be wrong…"

"What do you mean?" Shigure asked, putting his cup down, his eyes starting to double in size as he realized what his cousin was thinking.

"Something's coming," Hatori shook his head. "I didn't want to believe it, but I think only misfortune is going to come to us. I felt it in the air last night, and even now I still feel as if something is coming…"

Shigure sighed, the same feeling was rolling through him as well. "Should we tell them not to go to school today?"

Hatori took out the pack of cigarettes, his eyes fixated on them as he thought about what was happening. It would never happen. A dream could never come true, especially not one that could make all of their lives end. He had invisioned something to the same degree. He saw blood and death, a man with a smile on his face, laughing at what he had done. Even as he saw it, he knew it could never happen.

"I don't think it's that serious," Hatori answered as he looked at the stairs, hearing Yuki come closer. "It's just paranoia."

Yuki walked toward the door ignoring the looks on his cousins' faces. "Goodbye, I'll be home early today…"

As the door closed Shigure looked up at Hatori, watching his eyes fixate on the pack of cigarettes. The dog sighed as he realized the dark cloud had come again, blocking out the sun that had been shining on them so brilliantly this morning. And once again a chill passed through the room. There was something coming, something serious.

"Is it just us being paranoid?" Shigure asked, his voice low. "Or is this real?"

"It wouldn't be the first time we were wrong about something," he extended the pack of cigarettes to Shigure.

Shigure took a cigarette, lighting it quickly. "It wouldn't be the first time we were right," he inhaled a drag. "Besides, it's gotten cold again…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Haru looked forward as he thought about what was going on with Hatori and Shigure. What had caused them to stay up all night? Did they know? Haru shook his head as he looked forward, thinking about school. Of course they didn't know. The nightmare had passed; they had seen the last of it. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Yuki walking past him.

"Yuki?" he asked, he ran to be next to him. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Yuki smiled as he looked forward.

Haru smiled as he realized that the nightmare was really dead, they could go on with their lives not thinking about this pain anymore. They looked into each other's eyes as they smiled, starting to slow down. They could live again.

"Do you think today will be better?" Haru asked.

"I think so…" Yuki stated softly, walking faster so he was in front of Haru.

That was when Haru noticed the car, his body stopping as he realized that the car was starting to slow down as it came closer to Yuki. He tried to call out to Yuki, but his voice escaped him. At that moment he started to move toward his cousin, tripping over his feet, causing him to stop.

"Yuki!" he screamed as Yuki looked back at him.

The car stopped right next to Yuki. A man got out of the car, his onyx eyes haunting both of the teenagers to no end. His arm was reaching out to Yuki, the rat's heart racing as he felt him touch his shoulder.

"Souma Yuki," the man stated as he grasped Yuki. "You're coming with us."

"Let go of me!" Yuki screamed as he tried to fight him off, kicking, screaming, and pulling himself away from his body.

Just then a blond woman from the car, Haru and Yuki stopped as they looked at her, she was beautiful. Her golden blond hair was tied back into a high ponytail, save a few strands that had been let loose to frame her face. Her green eyes froze Yuki in place as the man continued to grab him.

"Stay down," she called out as she pushed her fist into his stomach forcing him to the ground. "Insolent vermin…"

Haru finally got to his feet as he watched them reach down and grab Yuki's body, starting to drag him to the car, his breathing sharp and labored. "Let him go!" Haru yelled as he ran toward the car the man and woman looking straight at him.

Another woman emerged from the car, this time a redhead. "Foolish ox!"

She tightly grasped Haru's head; he could feel small bolts of pain on his scalp as she pulled tighter and tighter. He tried to breathe as she pulled him back, but it was difficult. Just then, his head collided with the car, blood falling from his flesh.

Everything was getting hazy as the world turned haphazardly, his mind deceiving him. He knew that these were the people from Yuki's dream; these were the people that were going to kill them. His heart raced as his breathing became more diffcult, a heavy gravity pushing down on his chest, crushing his lungs under his ribcage. This was the nightmare that they had experienced; this was the end of the Zodiac.

He closed his eyes silently apologizing to Yuki, he couldn't save him, and now they had to pay the price: their lives. He fell into the dark chasm as he heard the man laugh, lifting his body from the ground, pulling him to his doom.

"Mission accomplished."

* * *

Sorry for the delay. 


	3. The Uproar

**Pairing:** This chapter contains no obvious pairings  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:** There is also slight OOC, minor language, minor references to violence, and blood  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Fruits Basket**, Natsuki Takaya does.

* * *

The phone rang, echoing through the walls of the house, interrupting Shigure from the long awaited moment of peace. He had remained at the table since Hatori had left, still drinking tea as he thought about ways to block out the thoughts that were running through his mind in the cold atmosphere of last night. 

Reluctantly, he stood up and walked toward the phone. Who could it be at a time like this? Only curiosity allowed him to pick up the phone. If only he had known what he was picking up on. If he had known what the call had in store, he would have let it ring, keeping a moment of peace if only a moment longer.

"Hello?" he asked as he picked up the phone, hoping that nothing too serious was going on, but what he heard next almost made him drop the phone where he stood. He couldn't believe it.

"Is this Souma Shigure?" the voice asked.

Shigure knew it was serious. "This is he…"

"We would like to inform you that Souma Yuki never showed up to school today," Shigure dropped his cup of tea, his breathing stopping as it shattered, his heart feeling like it was ready to halt as well. "Were you aware of this?"

Shigure closed his eyes as he tried to block out the feelings of discomfort that he had been experiencing since last night. Nothing happened to Yuki. He probably got lost on his way to school. But that was unlike him. Yuki never got lost, he was always on time to everything. He closed his eyes as he tried to find a way to make this seem less obvious.

"I'm sorry, Yuki is sick today and I guess I forgot to call in," he closed his eyes as he thought where his cousin could have run off to. "He should be better by tomorrow."

He hung up the phone as he stared blankly into nothing. What had happened to him? He felt nauseous as he thought of everything that could occur. Was he kidnapped? Was he ever going to see him again? His stomach churned as he thought deeper about it. He should have stopped him from going to school while he still had the chance.

The phone rang again, his hand reaching out to grasp it, hoping that it was Yuki. "Hello?" he asked, praying that all of this was just a huge misunderstanding.

It was Hatori. "Shigure, did you get a call as well?"

"They called you about Yuki too?" Shigure asked.

"No," Hatori stated seriously. "I got one about Hatsuharu… he didn't show up to school. Why do you ask? Yuki didn't show up either?"

The dog's eyes widened as he thought about everything that was going through his head. Both of them were missing. This had gone from a dilemma to a catastrophe in just a matter of minutes. His body shook as he thought about what was going on. Were they going to come for all of them?

"What should we do?" Shigure asked as he took a deep breath.

"We get the rest of them out of school and keep an eye on them, make sure that none of them leave our sight until we get to the bottom of this," Hatori continued. "We don't know what these people are capable of."

Shigure nodded. "Alright, I'll get Kyou and Momiji, you get Hiro and Kisa," they then hung up the phone simultaneously. The dog then started to move toward the door, his mind fixated on one fact: they were under attack.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Shigure walked through the halls of the school, searching for the office. The fear had risen to the point where he could no longer function without thinking about what could have happened to the two boys. His stomach churned as he fought the urge to vomit wondering if they were killed. The chills meant something, and now he wished that he had paid more attention.

As he arrived at the office, he immediately ordered the secretary to do as he wished. "I need you to call down Souma Momiji and Souma Kyou. I'm going to be dismissing them today…"

He watched as the secretary moved to call the classrooms, the two students being sent from him. Shigure felt his nerves ignite as he thought about what could have happened to them. As he swam deeper in his thoughts, he wanted a cigarette even more. He craved it to the point where there was nothing more that he wanted. But those thoughts were killed as he tried to focus on the positive, no more Soumas would go missing.

The office door opened as the two teenagers came in to see him. "What the hell is going on, Shigure?" Kyou asked as he walked toward the dog. "Why are you taking us out of school early?"

"We have to leave," he couldn't give them anymore explanation than that. "We're in the middle of a family crisis right now. It's not safe outside of the house," he walked out of the office. "Haa-san is going to meet us at the house…"

"Ha'ri is involved?" Momiji asked as he followed the dog. "This must be important to make him involved in this," he took a deep breath. "What's going on? Why are we in the middle of a crisis?"

Shigure turned away from them as they walked down the street. He didn't know what he could say to them. He couldn't tell them what had happened to Yuki and Haru. They weren't ready to be involved in this. All they had to know was that they weren't to leave their sight for even an instant. They couldn't lose anymore of them.

As he walked down the streets, Shigure thought about what could have gone through the boy's minds as they were walking to school. Where was the point where they had gone missing? What were they feeling when they were lost? He closed his eyes as he tried to block out any thoughts of them being more injured than he wanted them to.

He wanted a cigarette, he needed a cigarette, he wasn't going to be able to function if he didn't get a cigarette. The stress was piling up on him until the weight was too great to bear. What if he had told them to stay home and listened to the voice within him that told him that they were going to get caught? Both he and Hatori had been afraid that something had happened to them. Why didn't they listen to their hearts? If only they had, they wouldn't be in this mess right now. For the first time in long time, Shigure felt as though he had made the greatest mistake of his life.

Steps became painful as he tried to think of everything that happened in these twenty-four hours. They had a feeling that something was going to occur and they ignored it, and in only a few hours later their lives changed. Yuki and Haru were missing and they were never going to come home. And he knew, even though he tried to deny it, that it was all his fault.

"Shigure!" Hatori called out as he drove up to him. "Need a ride?"

"Get into the car," Shigure stated as the two boys got into the back with Hiro and Kisa. He then moved into the car to sit next to Hatori. "Have you seen anything on the way here?"

Hatori shook his head, trying his hardest to focus on his driving. "No, but I called Ayame. He's looking for them right now."

Shigure took out a cigarette and lit it, giving into his cravings. As he took the first breath of nicotine, he felt serenity flowing through him. All of the fear that was within his heart started to go on the back burner as he tried to let everything go. And for that very second he knew that everything was going to be alright.

"What the hell is going on?" Kyou asked as he looked at the two adults. "What is this secret crisis that the two of you won't tell us about? We're part of this family too; we have the right to know what's going on."

"That's unimportant," Hatori answered as he looked at Kyou. "We'll discuss it later. Right now we have to make sure that all of you are going to be alright," he breathed deeply as he smelled the smoke from Shigure's cigarette. "All you need to know about this crisis is that Haru and Yuki are missing and we're looking for them."

Kisa's eyes lit up as she heard the ox's name. "What happened to Haru?"

Shigure sighed as his eyes watered from the smoke. "We don't know, but we will do whatever we can to find out."

"How long have they been missing?" Momiji asked looking at Hatori.

The doctor took a deep breath, he couldn't hide it form them anymore. "They never made it to school…"

Kyou scoffed at that remark, running a hand through his bright orange hair, his lips curling into a snide grin, a slight chuckle passing his lips. "That damn rat and Haru probably got lost on their way to school and decided to skip. You two are making a huge deal out of nothing."

The dragon shook his head as he looked back at the cat. "No, that sounds like something Haru would do. But Yuki," he paused as he thought about the other boy. "He isn't the type to do something like that…"

As Shigure ran out of cigarette, he replaced it with a new one, lighting it in the blink of an eye. Nicotine was the only thing that was keeping him from going insane at that moment. It was his tranquilizer. He couldn't let it go, for the second that he did, he knew that it would be a catastrophe.

"You shouldn't get so worried," Hatori breathed, noticing how much his cousin was smoking. "We're going to find them…"

Everything changed at that moment; suddenly the children couldn't take their eyes off of the two adults as they sunk deeper into a shallow pit of insanity. They knew that if this situation could do that to them, only the heavens knew what it could do to the rest of the family. The adults were the ones who tried to keep them down to earth as the rest of them flew into uncertainty; it was never to be the other way around. Now they knew that it had become their worst nightmare. They were all doomed.

"Are you two going to be alright?" Kyou asked, causing Shigure to look back him. "It's not that I really care about how you two are feeling right now, or that damn rat disappearing. It's that I don't like seeing you like this," his eyes met the dog's. "Especially you, Shigure…"

A smile rolled across both Shigure and Hatori's faces as they heard that. They were going to make it through this. And even if they couldn't they would have to try. If they feel victim to this pressure, then it could destroy everyone who needed to lean on them. They would have to stay strong.

As they pulled up to the house, they saw Ayame standing in front, his eyes showing no signs of hope. His mission to find the two boys was an obvious flop. They stopped the car, walking with apparent shame to the snake as he shook his head.

"You didn't find them?" Hatori asked as he got out of the car.

"No," Ayame answered as he looked at him. "But I did find something," his hands fell to pick something up. "I found this…"

Both Shigure and Hatori almost fell to their knees as the saw what it was. It was a schoolbag. But it wasn't an ordinary school bag; it was covered with blood, fresh blood. They couldn't focus on the tasks at hand as they watched the blood drop to the ground, ending all of their hope of them getting lost. It was more than that, they had drawn blood.

"Kyou," Hatori whispered, "Take everyone inside."

The cat cooperated as he looked at the blood. He was aware of what happened. It was more than just Yuki and Haru wanting to take a break from their lives. They were hurt. This was the crisis that they were talking about. It was more serious than they all thought it was.

"Whose blood is it?" Hatori asked as he looked at the scarlet liquid.

Ayame shrugged. "I don't know. Whoever it was, they aren't in danger, it doesn't seem like they lost too much…" he took a deep breath. "It's Haru's bag though…"

Shigure looked at the blood as he shivered. "Then I guess it's Haru's blood."

"Then they _were _kidnapped," Hatori breathed, his eyes expanding to double their size. He suddenly fell into the same pit that Shigure had been in for so long, he desperately needed a cigarette. "But who would take them?"

Ayame closed his eyes as his trembling hand moved to touch the dragon's shoulder. "I don't know. All I know is that we can't give up. We have to find them," he looked deeply into Hatori's eyes. "This is personal now. They took my little brother…" he shook his head. "Tori-san, please find him before it's too late…"

"I will," Hatori answered as he walked to the car. "We'll all go the route that Yuki usually goes to school and see if we can find any more clues."

As the other two walked away, Shigure embraced the bloody bag tightly, closing his eyes with the same amount of force. He could still feel Haru's warmth on the bag, like the boy was just holding it. He didn't want to think about him losing blood; he didn't want to think of all of the pain that he had gone through. It was too much to take in at once.

"Haru," Shigure whispered as he walked toward the car. "Please let us make it in time, before something happens to you…"

* * *

Sorry for taking so long. I got so engrossed in _Falling Petals_ that I had a blockage for what to do next in this story. 


	4. The Hunt

**Pairing:** This chapter contains slight Haru/Yuki and slight Hatori/Shigure  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:** There is also slight OOC, minor language, references to violence, and some blood  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Fruits Basket**, Natsuki Takaya does.

**

* * *

**His eyes opened, the pain in his head circulating as he looked around him. The pain made it difficult for his eyes to adjust to the darkness as his vision clouded, sinking deeper into the pit of soreness. Where had he been pulled off to? The more he moved, the more he was reminded of that moment where he and Yuki were seized and thrown into the car.

Yuki! He had forgotten about him as soon as they were put into the darkness. He remembered running to him, he remembered watching that woman take him away. Were the separated? His eyes then moved to a figure next to him, his blurring vision trying with all of its might to clear up to try to recognize what was next to him. It was Yuki.

His hand moved to touch his cousin's hand, his body shaking as he realized that this situation was worse that he thought. Still he didn't know what had happened to them or worse what was _going_ to happen to them. He tried to look around to see where they were the blackness filling his body as he tried to focus. The opening of the door interrupted him as he saw the figures of a man and a woman walk into the room. Was this his doom? Was this how he was going to die?

_They're the ones who abducted us… _he looked closer at the woman; she was the one who had slammed his head into the car. She was the one who had pulled him away. She was the one who had put him into Hell. Was she the one who was behind all of this? Was she the one who was going to kill him? He froze, unable to breathe as he felt her come closer to him.

The man knelt down to Yuki, his hand moving to the rat's cheek, a chuckle passing through his lips. Haru wanted to scream, he wanted to reach out and stop that monster from touching his cousin, but he couldn't. All he could focus on was the woman who was standing next to him. She was entrancing.

Her hair was as bright red as blood, her eyes matching it in horror as they both fell upon pale skin. Her hair was frazzled, every strand going its own course on her head, not subtracting from the enchantment of her pale skin and he sparkling eyes. Her body was almost masculine, yet she was femalely slender. Her chest was flat, but round enough to distinguish her as a woman. She wore tight black pants that graced her figure, but she wore a loose red shirt with a black jacket over it to hide what Haru could only guess was a well defined muscular figure.

He was broken out of his stupor as he heard them man chuckle again.

"His cheek is still warm," the man said as he laughed. "It seems as though Hikari-san didn't do what she would have liked to. He's not dead…"

_Shut up! _Haru thought as he closed his eyes, pretending to be dead, only to hear the voices that were echoing around him.

"Maybe physically he's alright, but _mentally_, he's scared like a child," he voice was as smooth as silk, but it had a grinding rust of horror to it as she spoke. "The torture is too much for even a rodent to bear…"

Haru shook as her hand moved to stroke his hair; he closed his eyes tighter, trying desperately to play dead. If they thought that he was already dead, maybe they would dispose of him. Then he could make a run for it, whether it be digging himself out of a ditch or swimming for miles in a deep river. He had to get out of there in one piece.

Her hand was as cold as ice and it stopped him as if it was slicing him to pieces like a dagger. The slow speed of her strokes was enough to make his whole body shake violently. Was she going to kill him or was she going to save that for later? Biting at his tongue until it bled within his mouth, he tried to keep quiet. One sound could end it all.

"At least they got my target," she breathed as she stroked his hair. "The ox…"

Target? He didn't know what she meant by that. They had referred to them as targets, using their animal names. Haru knew that they were in on their secret. They knew about the Zodiac curse. What he didn't understand was what they wanted to do with them. He knew he would soon find out.

The cell door opened, someone else entering, by the sound of his voice it was a young man. "Katsu-sama, Akane-sensei, when are we going to start working? Hikari-senpai is getting impatient."

At that moment, like she was waiting for a cue, the woman known as _Hikari_ came in. Haru opened his eyes to look at her, she was gorgeous. She was tall, blond, and feminine, her green eyes soothing him if only for a moment. Her chest was more ample than _Akane's_, rivaling it by at least two times its size. Her hair was long and neatly straight tied back in a ponytail, letting two locks loose to frame her face. She wore tight white pants and a gold tank top that only made her chest look even more inviting. Her grace was impeccable; she seemed so much less violent than Akane. That was until she opened her mouth.

"What the hell is taking so long Katsu-chan?" her words were as harsh as chainsaw, her voice coarse to rival her feminine voice. "Is Akane trying to talk more shit to you?"

"Shut up, Hikari," Akane stated as she stood up. "This is going to be a long process and order should be taken."

"Order my ass. It doesn't matter how you kill them as long as you kill them," Hikari laughed. "Unless you don't want to get your hands dirty, _Akane-hime_?"

Haru froze as he heard those words; they were going to kill them. Was it their idea of a good time? Was this their sick plan? Why did they want to kill them? For once in his life he felt terrified, he felt as though he wanted to cry. He wished that he had never gone to school; he wished he had walked a different way. It was all thanks to him that he and Yuki were captured. He had killed them.

"Don't want to get _my_ hands dirty? You were the one who sent Tsubasa-kun in here in the first place," Akane scoffed. "You're the one who's getting impatient when you haven't even gotten your target yet."

"The sooner you move your ass, the sooner I get to kill it on the spot," Hikari argued.

"That's enough," Katsu stated as he stood up.

"Katsu-sama…" Akane breathed.

"We can't rush this. We've been waiting for too long," Haru could feel the smile on his face. "We should… _savor _it."

They all chuckled at their leader's words, Haru's heart skipping a beat as he knew that he was doomed. He was going to die. Yuki was going to die. There was no denying it. All of the plans that he had of making a run for it were impossibilities. They were going to destroy them until nothing was left.

"Leave," Katsu ordered his men. "We've got some preparation to do," all of the people complied as they walked out of the room, their footsteps echoing in Haru's ears, as his heart slowed to the same pace.

Haru closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, feeling Katsu's onyx eyes looking at him, a smile rolling across his face. The ox's heart raced; did he know he was alive? And if he did, what was he going to do? The man walked toward the door, saying one thing that made his heart stop.

"Don't get too comfortable," Katsu stated as he walked through the door. "We'll be back sooner than you think…"

As he heard Katsu leave, he opened his eyes and started to cough, the blood from his tongue falling to the ground. His body shook as he could feel tears coming to his eyes as he realized that they were finished, they were going to die sooner than he thought. This was a sick game to someone who thought it would be fun to destroy people who couldn't fight them off, and there was no escaping. They were finished.

His hand moved to touch Yuki's shaking hand, his older cousin panting as he was starting to regain consciousness. He had to get him out of here, no matter what, even if he had to die in the process.

"I'm going to get you out of here," Haru whispered. "I just don't know how yet."

He looked around the room; it was darker than the night sky. He had no clue where they were, but he could feel that they were looking for him. Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame were on their way to save them. They just had to be patient, but the clock was ticking. They were at the final countdown.

"Please, come save us," Haru breathed, his hand holding onto Yuki's. "Before it's too late.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Shigure took another breath of nicotine as he waited for Ayame to come back. It had been hours and no one knew where the two boys had gone off to. It had worn Shigure out, two packs of cigarettes facing his wrath, blackening his lungs as he waited for them to come back for them.

He looked at Hatori who was sitting next to him. He had reached his limit with smoking, his eyes fixated on the phone, waiting for Ayame to call, waiting for them to bring them home where they belong.

"I can't take this anymore," Shigure breathed as he extinguished another cigarette. "Where the hell are they?"

Hatori sighed. "Are you going to be alright, you've been losing your mind since the start of this whole situation? Since Yuki walked out of the door you've been acting as if you have lost you mind."

Shigure looked into Hatori's eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"You haven't been yourself lately," the doctor answered. "You're starting to scare me…"

The dog took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, shaking his head. "I just…" he choked on a breath as he thought about the thoughts running through his mind. "I don't know if I can ever really feel myself again, even if they do come back."

Hatori moved to him, his warmth moving to circulate through Shigure's body as the dog tried to hold back the tears that would eventually form in his eyes. Within Hatori's arms, he felt as though he was finally able to breathe easy. He rested his head on his cousin's shoulder, taking a deep breath as he realized he _could_ feel himself again, if only in the dragon's arms, he could feel the normal.

"It's going to be alright, we'll find them even if it takes weeks, months, or even years. We're not going to give up on them. We're a family," Hatori whispered as he held onto him. "We don't abandon each other."

Shigure moved deeper into Hatori, sighing gently. "Haa-san…"

Just then the door opened, Ayame walking in. "I have a lead!"

Hatori released Shigure as the two of them stood up as they heard that, they were going to find them. They knew that this lead wasn't going to be a dead end like the rest; this was going to be it.

"Where are they?" Hatori asked as he took a step forward.

Ayame's eyes moved to Shigure who lit his first cigarette out of his third pack and then back at Hatori whose eyes were empty as he looked down at his cousin. The stare was deeper than anything Ayame had ever seen before. His mind started to calm down as he looked at the two of them. What was going on before he walked in?

"What's going on with you two?" Ayame asked.

"Nothing," Shigure answered quickly. "What's the lead?"

"I followed another path where they could have gone," the snake took a deep breath. "It leads to a warehouse…"

The dog shook his head in disbelief as he took another drag of his cigarette. "Why would they bring them to a warehouse?"

Hatori sighed as he bowed his head, disgusted by Shigure's stupidity. "Where else would you hide captives?" he closed his eyes. "I thought you were a writer…"

"I don't write that hackneyed crap!" Shigure snapped as he put out his cigarette.

They then all stood up and started walking toward the car, Hatori moving closer to Shigure as he took a deep breath, looking at him through his peripheral vision. The doctor moved to place his hand on the writer's shoulder, a smile rolling across his lips.

"I will do everything in my power to bring them back…" Hatori promised as he opened the car door.

A smile tugged at the corners of Shigure's lips as he heard those words. For once he felt that there was some hope in all of this. He shouldn't give up, because they were going to win this twisted war. They were going to bring those boys home with everything that they had.

"I know you will," Shigure answered quietly as he got into the car as they started driving to the warehouse. _Hold on, we're on our way…_

_

* * *

_I hope to get the next chapter up a _little_ sooner. Hope you enjoy this one!


	5. Hatsuharu

**Pairing:**This chapter contains slight Haru/Yuki  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:**There is also slight OOC, language, extreme violence, torture, and blood  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Fruits Basket**, Natsuki Takaya does.

* * *

Haru's eyes fell on Yuki, watching as he started to awaken from his long trauma induced slumber. He closed his eyes as he hoped that he would never have to go through this pain in his life, hoping that this was the worst of it. They were going to come for him. He prayed, he hoped that they would, they couldn't leave him here to die. It wasn't like them to let one of their own suffer, this was not the end.

Yuki's eyes opened as he looked up at the ox. "H-Haru? What are you doing here? Where are we?"

"We've been captured by a group of lunatics; I don't know what they want to do to us. Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," Haru promised as he looked at Yuki. "We'll get home no matter what."

Yuki's breathing sped up; the harsh sounds of asthma going through the air, stopping Haru in a moment that he knew he would never get out of. He never thought that his cousin would be able to go through this much pain; he never thought that he was going to have to watch as they died like this. He couldn't sneak out with Yuki, it was too risky, his breathing would get them caught. They were stranded.

The door opened as Haru's heart broke, he was stuck here, there was no escape now, they were doomed. The ones that had been called Hikari, Akane, Tsubasa, and Katsu walked closer to them, weapons in hand. Haru closed his eyes tightly as he realized what was about to happen to him and his cousin. The leader of the group looked at Yuki, watching as the rat was coughing violently; a glimpse of sympathy was in his eyes.

"Poor thing," he whispered. "Don't worry, you'll be out of pain soon enough, this is all going to be over soon," he looked up at Haru, a smile on his face. "Which one of you wants to go first?"

As Katsu looked at Yuki again, Haru cried out. "Stop! Don't touch him! If you want blood, take my blood. He's been through enough…"

Haru knew what they were going to do, they were going to torture them, make them wish they were dead, and then they were going to kill them. That wasn't the life that he had hoped for when he looked at him, he wanted Yuki to love, he was going to be saved when everyone came to look for them. This was the way that it had to be. Haru would have to die so that Yuki could live.

"Foolish cow…" Akane breathed as he bent down to grasp Haru's arm, pulling him painfully off of the ground. He felt as if his arm was going to leave his shoulder as the redhead pulled him so harshly that he instantly found his way to his feet.

Haru, still holding Yuki's hand fought not to let go as Akane pulled him harder away. "Don't worry, Yuki, everything is going to be alright. You're going to get out of here! Don't be scared."

He then felt his hand leave Yuki's as he was pulled to the door. Yuki stopped coughing as he watched his cousin being pulled away, finally finding his voice that was lost during the shock.

"Haru!" Yuki yelled. "Haru!"

Katsu then scoffed at the display as he turned to look at Hikari. "Hikari-san, take the rat to another room, but don't kill him."

"Don't kill him?" Hikari asked. "How the fuck am I going to have fun if I'm not supposed to kill him?"

"Make him wish he were dead," Katsu answered as he looked at the blond. "But spare his life," he turned his attention to the young man as he walked out the door. "Tsubasa-kun…"

"Yes, sir!" Tsubasa called out as he followed Katsu.

Hikari scoffed as she lifted the rat off of the ground and left the room. The whole way, Yuki knew that all hope was lost. They were both going to die here. As he felt the woman pull at him harder, he could feel the life start to seep out of him. He closed his eyes tightly as he heard the words of disgust that were coming out of Hikari's mouth.

"If you were _my _target, you would have been dead in the streets!" she never loosed his grip on him as she kept walking down the hall, the clicking of her healed shoes matching the racing pace of his pulse. "But we have to do what Katsu-chan says or else I'll have to listen to him bitch for the rest of my life. Pathetic!"

She stopped in the hallway as she pushed Yuki in to a wall, ignoring the outcry of pain as the force stole his breath away from him. As her cold green eyes froze him in place as it shot fire down his spine, everyone of his nerves flaring up as breath caught in his throat. He closed his eyes and thought of Haru, he was going to come save him, they were going to be alright.

"Look at you," she hissed. "You're nothing more than insolent vermin. I could crush the life out of you!" disgust rolled across her beautiful face, making her perfect features look grotesque. "What use does anyone have for a rat anyway? I bet now you're regretting riding on that ox's back, regretting leaving the cat out of this? Maybe it would have been your cousin in your place right now, instead of you," her smile made Yuki's heart stop beating, the glitter of her teeth torturing his broken soul. "Here's the price you pay!"

She pulled him by his shirt and with more strength than Yuki thought a woman would ever have; she threw him into a room, his body hitting the floor with a humungous thud. There he lay shaking on the floor as he heard her heels again, tears welling up in his eyes as he took in the noise. He closed his eyes tightly as her fingers possessed him once more, pulling him off of the floor.

"Get up!" she yelled as she shoved him into a chair.

He opened his eyes to see a television in front of him, his nerves starting to calm down as he could finally breathe again. He looked at Hikari with a look of confusion, his glance asking her a question which she quickly answered.

"I can't kill you. But I can occupy you," she pointed to the television screen with a remote. "I wonder if anything good is on."

As television turned on, his heart stopped, he saw a room full of chains and weapons of torture, he couldn't breath again. He was so fixated on the screen; he didn't even notice that she was strapping him into the chair, his arm and legs not able to move from his bindings.

"The torture channel!" she smiled with glee. "My favorite! How about you?"

"What are you playing at?" Yuki asked as he looked into her eyes. "What the fuck are you playing at?"

She shook her head. "I wonder who the star is. Oh I know… it's…" she moved to whisper in Yuki's ear. "_Hatsuharu_…"

Yuki froze as she said those words, his hands working against his will to break himself out of the chair. He winced and whined as he tried and tried, his brain turning off as he only thought of his cousin. He looked at Hikari with a look of spite upon his face, his body trembling against the ties.

"I'm not going to muffle your screams," she smiled. "I want to hear the pain that you're going through. I can't kill you, but I can make you wish that I could. But don't think I'm the best at torture, oh no. Even in my malicious mindset, Akane is worse. She tortures her victims until they're screaming for the end, but unlike me she doesn't give it to them. She pulled off the spider's legs, but let's the creature writhe there… just a body…" she laughed almost silently, but Yuki could still hear the glee. "I wonder if she'll do the same to your cousin."

Yuki felt as Hikari's hands pushed against his cheeks, holding his head forward so he looked at the television. There was no avoiding it.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Haru let out a cry as he was pushed to the ground, all of the air in his lungs forcibly exiting his body. He coughed a single time as he struggled to his feet. He looked up as Akane walked closer to him, her face blank of all expression. The darkness of the room made it hard to make out his surroundings; he couldn't find an escape as the door cut off the light from the hallway. The only sources of light that he could make out were from the cracks of the door, a small oven, as well as a tiny red light from a camera.

"I hope you don't mind if I film this," she whispered only the sound of her boots hitting the ground giving away her location to Haru.

He wanted to lash out at her; he wanted to destroy her before she could get to Yuki. All of those thoughts faded as she heard the grinding of metal against a sheath. She had withdrawn her dagger. He closed his eyes and waited for it to happen, waited for the blow that would finish him of. He was only met with laughter.

"Kill you?" she asked as she walked closer to him. "Why the hell would I do that? No, I won't kill you. As a matter of fact, I won't kill you unless you ask me to…"

"Then get it over with!" Haru yelled. "That's what you want, right? To kill us? I know what you want to do to me! To Yuki! You want to kill us and then send our bodies in pieces to our family. And why? Why do you want to do this? Money? Do we owe you something? Then take it! Don't fuck around, just take it!"

As anger boiled in his body, Akane stayed stoic, nothing was fazing her. Grinding filled the room again as she put the dagger away. Haru closed his eyes tightly as he felt her hands on his back, gently pulling at the fabric of his uniform. He was done for. He was slowly lifted off of his feet, standing in the dark in the center of the room.

"I plan on taking it," Akane answered. "But how about we play a little game first? Unless…" she moved quickly behind Haru, withdrawing her dagger with inhuman speed, placing it against his neck. "You want to die now?"

His body shook as he swallowed against the pressure. "Yuki…" he breathed, every inch of him convulsing. "Will Yuki be alright?"

"He'll be physically unharmed no matter what. Katsu-sama has given us orders, orders that we are not to break. The rat will live," Haru sighed in delight as he grip loosed on the dagger. "I can't say the same for you…"

He heard the rustling of chains above him as the dagger left his neck. He felt his arms being lifted from his sides as she forcibly bound him to the chains, his feet leaving the ground by three inches. His weight became his worst enemy as his arms started to sting, his legs trying desperately to hit the ground as he uncomfortably balanced on his toes. He could see the smile on her face even in the darkness, his heart racing in his chest.

"All of this for him?" she asked as she walked away from him. "You are going to give up everything you are for a rat that used you? For a rat that rode on your back and then jumped off the second that you reached the palace?" she smiled coldly. "If he hadn't you'd be in his position…"

"And he'd be in mine," Haru spat. "I would rather die then have him here with you."

"You don't even know what I'm going to do. Nor do you know what Hikari is capable of," Akane walked closer to him as she raised the dagger to point at his neck. "He took everything from you. He made you a fool. Yet you still stand here by these chains that should be his and sing his praises?"

Haru shook his head as his body still shook, his feet slipping against the ground. "That's not true. You don't know what you're talking about!"

At that moment he felt the first blood be drawn, the stinging sensation of the blade up against his side, ripping through his clothes, destroying his skin. A strngled cry passed his lips as he swallowed hard. Her fingers ran through the wound, his blood burning as his vision clouded. His feet slipped off of the floor and he was left hanging again. And as he looked to his side, all he could see was her licking the blood off of her fingers.

"Toxic blood! Cursed blood!" she yelled as he lifted the dagger again, slamming it down into his leg.

Pain flared up in his body as he could no longer breathe, no longer think. His leg felt like it had been disconnected to his body, twitching uncontrollably against the pressure that the dagger had caused. He cried out as he tried to pull away, only to feel the dagger turn within the wound making it wider. Another scream came from his lips, this one echoing off of the walls as he started to convulse. Slowly he felt his body start to turn into a cow. He was losing control. Sweat poured down his face as he tried to fight the transformation. Akane then withdrew the dagger as the blood splashed against the ground.

"Painful?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" Haru asked back, his voice shaking violently. "Is that all you've got?"

She then pulled out a vial of liquid. Haru's heart stopped as he saw the vial. It was full of a mysterious bright blue serum, something that he thought he would see only out of movies. But as he looked at it, he knew what it was: poison. He closed his eyes tightly as he clamped his jaw shut. He wasn't going to die here. Not yet. Visions of Yuki flashed before his eyes, he had to make sure that he was going to make it through this to ensure he'd be alright. He had to make sure that he was going to live through this. His body shook as he felt himself on the verge of transforming.

"Drink this…" she whispered as he moved her hand to his cheeks, trying to forcibly open his mouth, prying at his jaw. "It'll help you!"

He opened his mouth as he nails dug into his skin, the pain becoming unbearable. The second he opened his mouth, he felt the liquid fill his mouth. It tasted metallic, acidic, he gagged as he almost vomited, one hand forcing his jaw closed. He shook as he other hand moved to his neck, pushing forcibly against his Adam's apple. All circulation in his body stopped as he involuntarily swallowed the liquid, his body shaking as he felt it run through his esophagus.

"See, not so bad," she backed away from him as he coughed, trying desperately to vomit the liquid. "If you behaved you wouldn't have to go through that. But you just insist on being a bratty child."

Haru swallowed the taste of the potion in his mouth, taking a deep breath as he looked at her. "It's all going to be worth it. This is nothing compared to what you're going to put him through."

She moved quickly, the dagger again at Haru's throat. "Is it worth dying like an animal?" he shook against the increasing pressure of the dagger against his throat. "Shall I remind you of the pain that the rat has put you through?"

He shuddered as he felt the skin break beneath the blade. All hope was lost.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Yuki's eyes didn't leave the screen as the screams emerged from Haru, the dagger slicing his skin as Akane's hand wrapped around his neck. He looked at his cousin and saw him slowly start to die. The laughter from Hikari filling the room as the display continued.

"Akane is being especially wicked today," the woman commented as she looked over at Yuki, the boy fighting the urge to vomit as his eyes remained on the screen. She moved closer to him as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "This is all because of you…"

Yuki's heart sank in his chest as he heard those words. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"I mean that you were the reason why this is all happening. Because you climbed on his back and took his place as the first one there," her cackling made his breathing halt. "If you had let him finish first, he would be the one in this chair, the one spared by the merciful Katsu-chan. Instead he's there with that violent maniac. That's where you should be you filth!"

He closed his eyes as he swallowed a throat full of vomit, gagging on the taste as he heard the screams. Every nerve was set ablaze as he tried to blokc it all out. This wasn't happening. This wasn't his fault. The more he thought about it, the more he knew. This was all his doing.

"Haru…" he whispered, his hands desperately trying to break their binds to reach him, his breathing becoming labored. "Stop it…"

Hikari giggled at the sight. "She can't hear you. Neither can he. You can scream, you can howl, you can make all of the noise you want and neither will ever hear you in here. You can't save him. You're nothing more than a pathetic rodent."

Yuki's body convulsed. "Stop it!" his voice was growing louder. "Stop it!" his voice broke as his cries increased in volume and emotion, his body shaking as he tried to break his binds. "_Haru_!"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Akane backed away from Haru as he coughed violently, his body shaking. It was almost over. She looked at her work; there was nothing left that resembled the boy that she had brought in there. His pale skin was covered with scars; his dark eyes were lifeless as they looked forward, fixated at nothing. He was nothing but a shell. He mission was accomplished.

She moved to the oven in the corner, pulling out a rod, the red hot metal illuminating the room. A smile rolled across her face as she looked at the boy. It was time for the finishing touch. She moved closer and closer, only hearing the rasping of his breathing fill the room.

"You're about to receive the finishing touch that we want to give to all of you. The mark that represents our conquest over you," she moved the iron closer to him. "This is how our dream began. You're soul now belongs to us."

She pressed the hot metal to Haru's left bicep, his body tensing as he howled, tears pouring down his face as the convulsions continued, the screams filling the room as his flesh burned. The horror continued for a while until the screaming ceased his body falling lips on the chains, the sound of labored breathing vanishing. It was at this moment, she pulled the iron away, dropping it into a bucket of water.

Digging into her pocket, she pulled out some lips stick and moved closer to the unconscious boy, taking the cap off. She instantly drew an "X" on his forehead, marking the spot where she was going to strike. She backed away and slowly began to search for a hammer walking out of the door to find one.

That was the moment when she saw the man in the hallway. She looked at him carefully, and she knew that he was one of them. Before her eyes was Souma Hatori: the dragon. He was then met by another man who was out of breath, sensing that he was one of them as well, this one Souma Shigure: the dog.

"Where is he?" the dragon asked as he looked into her eyes. "Where are you keeping him?"

She sighed, it was all over. But her deed was still done. "Over there," she pointed to the door that would lead them to the cow, what was left of the cow.

She slowly walked away as they ran toward the room, pulling out her communicator. "Hikari, they've found us. We need to leave now."

0o0o0o0o0o0

Shigure and Hatori ran into the room, their eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. They walked deeper into the room, trying desperately to find Haru or Yuki. Hatori walked forward, his arm in front of him as he ventured through the dark room, trying to feel one of the boys, Shigure doing the same as they walked in different directions. Suddenly, Shigure bumped into something. There dangling from the ceiling was Haru's body, unconscious.

"Haa-san!" Shigure yelled as he looked at the dragon. "It's Haru."

Hatori ran as fast as he could to the ox's side. "How do we get him down?"

"Is there a key?" Shigure asked.

Hatori then quickly picked the locks, Haru's body falling gently into his arms. He was completely lifeless; his body starting to lose heat, blood dripping rapidly from him. But Hatori froze in place as he realized something even more severe. He looked up at Shigure and with a face full of fear said:

"Haru's not breathing."

Shigure stood there frozen as Hatori placed Haru's body on the ground, breathing frantically into his mouth. Still Haru wasn't breathing. Hatori continued over and over, trying to get a single breath to come from the boy's lungs, but there was none. Shigure closed his eyes as he heard Hatori cursing, his heart stopping as he realized what had happened.

"Come on, Haru!" Hatori was on the verge of weeping. "Breathe! _Breathe_!"

Shigure's eyes started to water as he looked at his cousin trying to revive the boy. "We were too late…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Haru," Yuki whimpered as Ayame was undoing his binds, not looking at the screen. "Haru!" he struggled out of the chair, trying to get to the television. "Haru!" his voice was breaking as his breathing increased. "Haru! Breathe! Damn it!" tears started to roll down his cheeks. "_Damn it_!"

He bowed his head as his binds were undone. "I'm sorry…" he sobbed, his body shaking. "I'm so sorry Haru…" tears fogged up his vision as his brother pulled him out of the chair. "It should have been me there… _Haru_…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Hatori continued with the rescue breathing, trying desperately to save his life. He tried and tried, but none of it seemed any use as Haru still wasn't breathing. Then as he backed away one last time, he felt Haru's breath on his lips. A sigh of relief escaped Hatori as he pulled Haru's body closer to him; a smile was on his face.

"He's breathing…" Hatori breathed as he held onto Hatsuharu's body.

He removed his coat and wrapped it around Haru's body, trying to retain some of the heat that was within him. He looked up at Shigure as the two of them ran out the building, all of the desperation from the morning not dying as Haru's blood was seeping through the coat. They needed help now.

They then met up with Ayame as they ran out of the building. "How's Yuki?" Shigure asked.

Ayame shook his head as he kept his arms wrapped around his brother. "He saw the whole thing. They made him watch everything that happened to Haru."

"Shigure, you drive. I'll see to Haru's wounds as well as any Yuki may have," Hatori explained.

"Okay," Shigure answered.

All of them got into the car as they were prepared to drive off. Tears formed in Yuki's eyes as he looked at Haru, his hands reaching to touch his wounded cousin. There wasn't a dry eye in the car as he continued to weep Haru's name, his hands shaking up against his flesh.

"I'm sorry, Haru…" Yuki's voice was weak as he moved closer to Haru's body, his hands shaking violently. "I'm sorry… it should have been me. It should have been me…"

As they drove away from the warehouse, Hatori closed his eyes tightly. As all of the pain surrounded him, as all of the misery erupted he held onto Haru, feeling his breathing stabilize. This was all going to over soon. He prayed to God that this was all going to be over soon.

* * *

I'm sorry that it took me so long. I got buried in so many ideas and school that I put this on hold. But now, more than a year later I have finally posted a new chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'll try to work on this story more.

Like what you read? Feel free to PM a request. See profile for details.

Also feel free to review.


	6. The Longing

**Pairing:**This chapter contains Haru x Rin and Hatori/Shigure  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:**There is also slight OOC, language, some sexual content, talk of death, and references to: violence, torture, and blood. This is also going to be the start of a side love story that I have planned to put into this story since it had begun, something to get the center stage off of the horror and more onto the drama.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Fruits Basket**, Natsuki Takaya does.

* * *

"He's lost a lot of blood!" Shigure's voice called out. "So much blood!"

"He's going to be alright, calm down!" Hatori tried to stay serious.

Haru could hear their words, but he couldn't see anything. His body felt heavy as he could feel Hatori's hands on his chest, trying his hardest to stop the bleeding. Breath burned throughout his throat and chest as pain circulated through him. His body gently shook as he heard their words grow louder. He felt his heart start to slow, his body shaking harsher.

"Stay with me, Haru!" he heard Hatori scream.

"Why isn't he transforming?" Shigure asked, his voice frantic. "Why isn't he transforming?! He should be changing by now!"

Haru tried to open his eyes only to feel his body become heavier as he felt his body start to give way. He heard the cries get louder and louder as he fell deeper into the darkness.

"His heart just stopped!"

He remembered the look on the woman's face as she tortured him. He remembered those venomous words seeping from her scarlet lips. The horror stayed with him as he went deeper into the darkness.

"_You worthless animal…"_

_Shut up!_Haru wanted to silence that voice.

He felt Hatori's hands leave his chest. "I'm losing him."

"Losing him implies that he's heart's beating. It's not beating anymore. Hatori, you've _lost_ him!"

"_He stole everything from you. And now he's taken your life."_

Haru felt a surge of electricity through his chest, a light flashing before his eyes. Still he felt lifeless, heavy. He looked forward to see those scarlet lips speaking to him, those hands wrapping around his throat. The moments in the warehouse played over and over behind his eyes. All of the pain was set aflame as he could see that smile before him, torturing him to no end.

"_It's over…"_

"Haru!" Hatori's screams were bordering desperation

"_You're finished."_

"Come on!" his voice shook as Haru could hear the tears forming within his eyes.

He felt another surge go through his body.

"_I won…"_

"Come on!" his voice broke as emotion was starting to take over.

He finally moved his fingers, the sensation of his beating heart returning to him as the face went away, the screams that filled the room disappearing. He struggled to open his eyes, unable to as they became heavy; his body barely moving from the limp state it was in. He could hear Hatori's ragged breathing as a smile rolled across his face.

"Hatori…" he breathed as he moved his fingers.

"Haru," Hatori moved closer to him. "Thank God. I thought that I lost you for a moment."

The boy tried to open his eyes, closing them as he saw the light in the room, wincing as he moved his body, feeling the pain of stitches along his arms and legs. He tried to open his eyes again, only to feel Hatori's hand move to his shoulder.

"It's alight, Haru… you don't have to strain yourself."

"What happened?" Haru asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Hatori breathed as he pressed his hand up against the wound on Haru's chest. "What happened in there?"

Haru closed his eyes and sighed as he remembered the pain. "What do you think happened in there? They tortured me. They tried to kill me. They were part of some gang that wanted us dead. The woman who attacked me was named… _Akane_, I think. Their leader was Katsu. The woman who took Yuki was…" his eyes opened wide as he heard that name pass his lips. "Yuki! Who is he? Is he hurt?"

Shigure shook his head. "No, only you were hurt. But Yuki went through quite a bit of torture himself," the next words that passed Shigure's lips sent chills down Haru's spine. "He was forced to watch the whole thing as it occurred. He saw them torture you…"

"What?" Haru asked, his heart feeling like it was going to stop again, emotions taking control of him. "How is he?"

"Shattered," Shigure answered, his eyes avoiding Haru. "Completely destroyed. He's with Ayame right now."

"That must be pissing him off…"

"On the contrary," the dog continued. "He's happy that his brother is here for him. He was terrified for the worst. He thought that you were gone. You stopped breathing, and just now…your heart stopped."

Haru swallowed hard as he lay back on the bed. "Am I going to be alright?"

"You need to stay in bed for a while," Hatori breathed. "And I think it would be in your best interest to stay with me."

That statement made Haru freeze in place. "Why?"

"I'm just concerned for your health. I don't want to see you get hurt…" Hatori ran a hand along Haru's arm. "I was worried about you…"

"You're not my father…"

"I know," the dragon sighed. "I know… but maybe just this once you can let me help you… that's all I want to do is help you through this…"

Haru looked at Hatori, seeing the pain in his eyes. He wanted to help him. Haru could see the fear in the dragon's eyes as he looked at him, he could feel the worry within his body. That day when they were taken into the warehouse, he knew tat he would never be the same. The family was going to fall apart faster than he ever thought it would. Hatori knew that they were going to come after all of them, and they were going to start by finishing off the ones who got away.

The urgency of the situation didn't escape Haru, but in is heart he wanted to think differently. He wanted to think that this was going to be the end and all of the ghosts were going to die. But they were never going to die. The nightmare had just begun. As he looked into the doctor's eyes, he saw the same nightmare. They needed each other more than they would ever understand.

"You're terrified," Haru breathed.

"Aren't you?" Hatori asked as he looked into his eyes.

"No," Haru answered quietly. "They won't come back for me… but you… all of you… I don't know what will happen…" he looked at the dragon taking a deep breath. "I don't know what's going to happen to you…"

Shigure and Hatori looked at each other, Haru's heart breaking as he saw the looks within their eyes. Both of them were terrified, Shigure closing his eyes as he looked away from the doctor, his eyes reopening as they fell upon Haru.

"How do they decide who they kill?" Shigure asked, Hatori's eyes opening as he looked over at the dog. "How do they decide who they torture next?"

Haru swallowed hard as he thought deeply about it, looking at the way that Hatori was looking at Shigure. "They go in order. They wanted Yuki first, then me… they're going to go in order of how our Zodiac animal arrived at the gala…"

Shigure's eyes filled with tears as he looked back at Hatori. "Haa-san…"

"There's still time to stop them before they get to you," Hatori sighed. "After all… the dog is 11th, that's plenty of time…"

"I'm not talking about _me_!" Shigure yelled as he looked at Hatori. "They're going to come for you… and they get progressively worse. And then they'll come for Ayame. I'm going to be left defenseless… they're going to kill you, Hatori!"

Hatori sighed as he moved to comfort his friend. "Shigure…"

At that moment a scream came from the door. "Haru!"

Hatori and Shigure's attention disappeared from each other as they looked at the door. There stood Rin with Kagura, the two of them covered with tears as they glanced at Haru who was on the bed, covered with stitches. Haru looked at the two of them as they walked closer to him, Shigure wiping the tears from his eyes as Hatori looked back at him, his breathing becoming deeper as emotion was overtaking the room.

"Haru!" Rin yelled again as she ran to his side, grasping his hand. "Haru! You're alive! I was so worried…"

"Worried about me?" Haru asked with a smile on his face. "You should have known it would take more than some crazy gang to kill me…"

Kagura shook her head. "We all thought you were dead. We didn't know right away become _some_ _people_ didn't want to tell us…"

Hatori shrugged. "We didn't want to get the whole family involved."

"You told everyone but me, Rin, and Ritsu…" Kagura growled as he looked at the dragon. "I think we have a right to know…"

Haru closed his eyes as Rin held onto his hand tighter. Everything was going to change. As he looked at everyone in the room, he slowly saw them die before his eyes, every one of them falling into the black in front of him. He looked at Rin again, closing his eyes as he saw the visions of her death, his breath catching in his throat as he tried to shake the pain from his mind. But it kept swirling, it wanted to take him over, he swallowed hard as he tried to block it all out.

"_I'm coming for all of them… everyone you know is going to die, Souma Hatsuharu. Are you prepared to lose everything?"_

Rin held on tighter to his hand. "I don't want to let you out of my sight…" she looked over at Hatori. "Hatori-san…" the dragon diverted his attention from Shigure to glance over at the horse. "Can I stay with Haru?"

Hatori looked at Haru. "They're going to come for all of us?"

Haru nodded. "Just like Yuki's dream…"

Hatori closed his eyes as he shook his head. "Then you should keep Rin close to you…" he looked at Haru. "You said they have no interest in you anymore, right? Then you're the only one who can protect us from another attack…"

"Haa-san…" Shigure took an aggressive step forward. "Don't put that kind of pressure on him. Don't you think he's been through enough?"

At that moment, Haru's blood turned to ice, hearing the words that passed Hatori's lips. "Do you want to die, Shigure?" his voice was almost shaking. "Do you want every single one of us to die because _you_ think that he doesn't need that pressure? He's our only hope. He's the one who survived."

"You shouldn't just label him like that," Shigure walked closer to him. "If you haven't forgotten you'd remember that you almost lost him only a few moments ago. Do you want _that_ to happen to him again? You don't even know if you'll be able to bring him back!"

Haru watched as the argument flared up between the dragon and the dog, the two of them raising their voices as tears were forming in Shigure's eyes. Rin's hand tightened on his as their yelling increase in ferocity and fear. Kagura stood, eyes wide as she watched Shigure resist the urge to slap Hatori in front of all of them. The tension grew louder, thicker until Haru could no longer breathe. The situation had flared up as the two adults that they hoped that they could lean on had turned into nothing more than dueling beasts, seeing which one could scream louder.

He tightened his hand on Rin's as he saw a tear fall down Shigure's cheek, this wasn't anger, this wasn't about Haru. This was all about Hatori. Shigure had done the numbers in his head; he knew that it was only a matter of time before they got Hatori. The dragon was 5th in the line-up; they had already captured and tortured the 2nd. No one knew when they were going to take Hatori. It could be months, it could be three days. Haru closed his eyes as he looked into Shigure's the pain was taking him over, the boiling sensation of heartache rising throughout him.

"What is this about?" Hatori asked. "What are you so afraid of?"

"I'm afraid that we're all going to die, you bastard!" Shigure yelled.

Kagura leaned over to Rin to whisper in her ear. "What's going on?"

"I think Shigure-san wants some Hatori-san," Rin whispered back as they looked at the two adults. "That's what I'm getting out of this."

Shigure then walked out of the room, Hatori closing his eyes as he sighed. "Shigure…" he looked back at the three kids behind him seeing their eyes on him, smiles upon their faces. "What?"

"Aren't you going to go after him?" Kagura asked as she gestured to the doorway.

"Why would I do that?" Hatori asked as he looked away from them, his voice shaking with frustration, his eyes falling back on the door. "He's going to be fine."

"Cuz you pissed him off," Kagura continued as she looked at the doorway. "You should go after him."

Hatori looked at the doorway as he sighed, his shoulders tensing as he walked toward the door, leaving the room. A smile rolled across Kagura's face as her eyes moved back to Haru who was shaking his head.

"What? Can't I make light of this situation?" Kagura asked as she looked at Haru and Rin. "Besides, it's all very romantic…"

"Will you stop it?" Haru breathed as he looked at the boar. "Shigure's upset."

Kagura grinned as she looked at the doorway, a giggle rolling from her. "I so bet that those two wind up doing it…"

Haru shook his head. "I'm not going to bet against that… because they so are."

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Shigure!" Hatori called out as Shigure walked toward the door. "Where do you think that you're going?"

Shigure looked back at him. "Yuki is probably waiting for me…" he looked at the door again, moving forward to walk out of it. "Besides, Kisa is still there… I have to stop all of this before it gets out of hand."

As Shigure tried to walk away, Hatori grasped his wrist, pulling him back. Shigure fell onto Hatori's chest as he was pulled back, feeling his breath accelerate as he fell onto him. Their eyes met as Shigure looked up, depression meeting fear as they moved closer to one another, their breathing patterns aligning as their bodies became stiffer. Their gaze deepened as Hatori's grip on the dog's wrist faded away, his hands moving to his shoulders.

"You're worried aren't you?" Hatori breathed as he looked into Shigure's eyes.

"I don't know what their going to do to you…" Shigure exhaled deeply as he rested his head on Hatori's shoulder. "I'm scared for you… for all of us… but you…" he closed his eyes as he fell deeper into his chest. "When they get you, I don't know if I'm going to live through it…"

"Don't talk like that," Hatori whispered. "Everyone's going to be alright. No one else is going to suffer," he ran his hand along Shigure's back. "Shigure… I promise…"

Shigure looked up into Hatori's eyes, his body shaking as he saw the blood on his shirt, his swollen eyes, dark circles beneath them. He could feel Hatori's breath on his face, his body tensing against the doctor's as the two of them moved closer to one another. Hatori's hand tightened on the back of his shirt as their breath mixed, the passion increasing as their eyes closed.

"Hatori…" Shigure whispered, passion taking him over. "Haa-san…"

They didn't know what they were doing. They didn't know what was compelling them to be closer. After all of the years of being with him, Shigure never thought that this would happen. They had been close ever since they were kids, but never did he think he was going to be in position with him, never did he think that he was going to be so tantalizingly close to his lips. He moved closer to the point where he could feel Hatori's lips barely touch his.

"Shigure," Hatori swallowed hard as their lips were about to touch.

Electricity rolled down Shigure's spine as his eyes closed tightly, his hands on Hatori's shoulders tightening. They remained barely touching as their breath accelerated. Shigure shook as he could feel Hatori's heart race up against his chest, his pulse racing with every breath. He moved closer, their lips brushing against one another.

The phone then rang. Hatori's hands tightening on Shigure's shoulder, a small purr leaving his lips as his eyes fell onto the phone.

"You should probably get that," Shigure breathed as he looked at the phone. "Could be important…"

Hatori reached to pick up the phone. "Hello…" his voice was breathless as he spoke into the phone. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

Shigure backed away as he tried to compose himself, watching as Hatori talked on the phone. He could hear the voice on the other end, it was Ayame. He watched as Hatori breathlessly tried to talk to their friend, swallowing hard every moment that he could. He had never seen Hatori like this, completely flustered, off his game. His composure was broken, and it was all Shigure's fault.

"Hatsuharu's fine…" Hatori breathed as he looked over at Shigure. "Honestly, I'm fine, Ayame…" he swallowed again as Ayame tried to respond to him, taking deep breaths as he tried to compose himself, the passion still swirling within him. "I was stitching him for hours, Ayame, of course I'm out of breath…" he took a breath. "No I'm not crying…"

Shigure moved to get a cigarette from the drawer as Hatori kept on trying to talk, nervously tangling his fingers through the cord. He looked at the dragon as he lit the cigarette, taking a drag as if trying to get himself together, trying to compose himself before he went back to his house in front of Yuki. He took another drag as he watched Hatori undo the first button of his shirt, his head swirling uncontrollably.

"Shigure is leaving right now…" Hatori breathed as he smiled smelling the aroma of cigarette smoke. "I'm fine Ayame…" he looked over at Shigure. "I need to go…" he rolled his eyes as Ayame made his response. "Because I'm busy, Ayame. Haru's in pain… I need to tend to him right away… I'll talk to you later."

He hung up the phone and looked at Shigure, breathlessly.

"Are you alright, Haa-san?" Shigure asked as he looked at him.

Hatori nodded. "I'm fine… are you alright?"

"Fine…" Shigure took another drag.

Hatori shook his head. "You shouldn't smoke so much…"

Shigure laughed. "You're one to talk. You smoke more than me…"

They looked at each other as they tried to catch their breath. The nightmare was surrounding them and it was only going to get worse. But as Shigure remembered how Hatori felt in his grip, he knew that everything was going to be alright, if only for a moment.

But all moments had to come to an end.

* * *

This chapter came a lot quicker than the other ones, I just can't stand to see this story go unfinished. I feel as though this story generates a lot of hit to my account and stories that do that should be updates more often.

Yes, I do love Hatori/Shigure slash, and have wanted to put them in as a subplot since the development of this idea in August 2007. I just want to take the spotlight off of the horror and do what i do best: drama...

I will continue to update this story a lot faster than once every few months. This story may become my main focus as it is the oldest of all that I'm working on being from early 2008.

Like what you read? Feel free to PM a request. See profile for details.

Also review, the more reviews the more I will work on this story.

Also to put my priorities in order, I've made a poll, vote for the stories you want faster updates on.


	7. The Comfort

**Pairing:**This chapter contains Hatori/Shigure  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:**There is also slight OOC, language, some sexual content, talk of death, and references to: violence, torture, and blood.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Fruits Basket**, Natsuki Takaya does.

* * *

Yuki curled up in the bed as he heard the ticking of the clock, remembering those heals up against the ground as he was taken into that room. The screams came back to him as he remembered the howling from that room, the look on Haru's face as the woman repeatedly stabbed him. He buried himself deeper in the sheets as the clicking became louder, hearing that venomous voice whispering in his ear.

The memory was so vivid within his mind, his heart racing as he remembered that woman, remembered those hands on his shoulders. He took a deep breath as he tried to block out the memory of her. He buried his face in his pillow as he heard the ticking getting closer to him, tears forming in his eyes.

"Can you get that clock out of here?" Yuki asked as he looked over at Ayame.

"The clock?" Ayame asked. "What is the clock doing?"

Yuki's body shook. "It's bothering me… can't we get a digital clock in here… anything that doesn't make noise…"

Ayame looked over at the clock. "Yuki…"

"Please, get rid of it. You don't have to throw it away, just get it out of here…" he closed his eyes tightly as he looked at the clock. "Please…"

Ayame picked the clock up and left the room, Yuki's body shaking as he looked around the room, it was starting to get dark out, he could feel himself being closed within a box, his body shaking as he remembered being in that room. He looked out the window seeing the setting sun remembering the day when he was taken away. He remembered as Haru was taken out of the car by Hatori, the urgency that was in his voice as he told Ayame to take Yuki to Shigure's house.

"_Take Yuki to Shigure's place, I don't want him here for this…" Hatori looked over at Shigure. "I'm going to need your help for this one…"_

"_Why isn't he transforming?" Shigure asked as he looked at Haru's limp bleeding body, his breathing ragged. "Haa-san…"_

"_Help me…" Hatori cried out as he lifted Haru's body out of the car, slathering his blood on his shirt. "What the hell are you doing here, Ayame? Get him the hell out of here!"_

_Ayame wrapped his arms around Yuki. "We have to go!"_

"_He's bleeding everywhere!" Shigure breathed as he helped lift Haru out of the car. "Haa-san…"_

"_Get the fuck out of here, Ayame!" Hatori screamed at Ayame._

"_We have to go Yuki…"_

Yuki closed his eyes as he remembered Hatori's body language; he never thought that he would see him like that. He never thought that he would hear him curse; he never thought that he would hear him curse. He closed his eyes tightly as he remembered the blood that was lacquered on Hatori's hands, the tears that were forming in Shigure's eyes. He remembered the look in their eyes as they glanced at one another. Even at that moment he didn't even know if Haru was alright.

"The clock is gone," Ayame announced as he walked back into the room. "Is there anything else that you need?"

Yuki looked up into his brother's eyes. "How's Haru?"

Ayame sighed, but he couldn't hide it from Yuki. He had no choice but to tell him the truth. "He's alive…"

"He lived?" Yuki asked as he looked into his brother's eyes. "But what happened to him? Is he alright? Is he awake?"

"He's fine…" Ayame continued. "Tori-san said that it was difficult to keep him, but he managed to. Haru's going to be make it, but he's going to need to stay in bed for a while… that's what you wanted to hear, right?"

Yuki closed his eyes. "Thank goodness… he's alright… I thought…" he fought the tears that were forming in his eyes. "I thought… I thought…" his breathing caught in his throat as he went back to that day, seeing Haru dangling from the chains in front of him, blood rolling from his body as blue liquid fell from his lips. "I thought…"

Ayame placed a hand on Yuki's shoulder. "I know that you're in pain… we _all _are…"

Yuki shook his head. "What exactly do _you_ know about this situation? Were you there when we were taken from the streets? Were you there when we were kept in that dark room?" his voice increased with ferocity as he almost stood up from the bed. "Were you there when Haru was pulled from the room? Were you there watching everything that woman did to him?" he shook his head again as the tears rolled down his cheeks, his voice turning into a piercing howl. "You know nothing!"

"Yuki…" Ayame breathed. "I know that you're in pain…"

"Do you know what it feels like to be hunted down like a fugitive, like an animal? Do you know what it's like to go through all of that, not knowing what you've done?" Yuki closed his eyes as he felt his brother's hands on his shoulders. "If you feel all of that, you sure don't show it!"

Ayame shook his head. "I searched for hours…" his hands shook on Yuki's shoulders. "I searched for ages for you, looking everywhere for you. I thought you were dead, Yuki," he closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, his voice breaking. "I thought that they took you from me…"

Yuki shook his head. "I wish… I wish that they did…" he swallowed hard as he fell back on the bed. "I wish…" his voice shook as he closed his eyes tightly. "I wish I wasn't such a burden to Haru… I wish that I went in his place… if I didn't use the cow… if I…"

Ayame shook his head. "I'm glad that you're alive… I'm glad that you're okay. I was so worried about you," he closed his eyes as tears continued to roll down his cheeks. "They're going to come after us, aren't they? All of us?"

Yuki nodded. "I think so…"

Ayame swallowed hard as he heard those words. "Then we have to be ready…"

As Yuki saw the fear that was within his brother, his heart broke. This was the life that they were to live for the rest of their lives. This was the life that they had chosen. They were forever going to be on the run. This was how it all was going to end.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"A complete and utter failure!" Hikari yelled from the corner. "I had that rat underneath my fingers, all I had to do was squish him and he'd be gone!" she pulled out her gun as she cocked it and aimed it at the corner, ignoring Akane's rolling eyes, not wanting to hear any of her mindless tripe. "Then that dragon had to interfere with that damn dog…"

Katsu's eyes lit up as he looked at Hikari. "You're sure that it was the dragon and the dog that showed up."

"Oh I'd recognize the dog from a mile away…" Hikari snorted as she lowered the gun, looking at her leader. "Exactly how I remembered him…" a smile rolled across her face. "And I could sense that the one he was with was the dragon… he had a certain air to him…"

Akane looked at Katsu, her voice filled to the brim with authority. "It's true… we all know that the snake, the dragon, and the dog are inseparable. But the way that he carried himself… definitely the dragon…"

"That's your next target isn't it, Katsu-chan?" Hikari asked as she looked over at Katsu whose eyes moved away from her.

Katsu took a deep breath. "How will I be able to tell who he is…?"

Akane smiled as she closed her eyes, her arms crossed across her chest. "He has very distinctive eyes. They're a color and a shape that you may remember," she looked at Katsu, her eyes opening as her smile faded. "I don't think you'll want to look at them too long…"

Katsu glanced over at Tsubasa. "Then I guess we should get moving tomorrow," his eyes never left the young boy. "Are you ready, Tsubasa-kun? You may be able to get your target soon…"

Tsubasa smiled a nervous smiled as he ran a hand through his chestnut hair. "How are we going to get to them? They've probably caught on. I mean if the dragon, snake, and dog went through that much trouble to get the ox and the rat… what will they go through for a tiger and the rabbit?"

"I won't give them time to save the tiger," Hikari smiled viciously. "As soon as I see that beast I'm going to put one in between the eyes. It'll be dead before it even knew what hit it…"

Akane growled at that. "Is that what you think this is all about? Quick deaths?"

"The less I have to look at them the better. If you had that philosophy perhaps _Bessie_ would be in a casket!" Hikari looked over at Katsu, trying to ignore the angry Akane's eyes falling upon her. "What about you? Going after the dragon?"

Katsu chuckled at her question. "Why? I want to see how much I can make him squirm before I destroy him."

Akane looked at Hikari as she took a deep breath. "What's the plan, Katsu-sama?"

Katsu took a step forward as the room started to thicken with the sensation of authority, fear, discipline. The three looked upon their leader as he closed his onyx eyes tightly as if trying to remember something, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his body stiff as he took a deep breath. The sound of metal grating against the sheath echoing through the air, all of his subordinates staring at him.

"A week from now," he held on tightly to his sword. "We will attack the two places where they could be hiding them and we will take them down…" he looked over at Akane. "You will go with Tsubasa-kun, Akane-san to the doghouse. As for you Hikari-san," he glanced at the blond to his left. "You will go to me to the dragon's den," he extended his sword in front of him. "We will take down the rabbit and the tiger, but _only_ the rabbit and the tiger," his eyes never left Hikari, who was rolling her eyes. "You may wound who you please, but not kill them. Anyone who gets in your way must be taken out of the equation whether it be your target or not."

Akane drew her dagger and put it against Katsu's sword. "Agreed, Katsu-sama."

Tsubasa drew his dagger as well as he put it forward, his eyes not leaving his master. "Agreed, Katsu-sama…"

Hikari took her gun and placed it against the three blades. "Agreed… _Katsu-chan_…"

All of them looked at each other, one more week until they were going to strike back. One more week until they were going to make the animals pay. A smile rolled across Katsu's face as he retracted his sword, his hand wrapped tightly around the hilt. His smile beamed as his eyes fell on each one of his comrades.

"For Cassandra…" he announced as he looked at all of them, putting his sword back into his sheath. "We will make them pay for Cassandra…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Haru took a deep breath as Hatori sat by his side, bandaging his wounds. The ox's eyes fell upon the blood that was staining the doctor's shirt, seeing the fatigue that was overtaking him. His body tightened as Hatori wrapped the bandages around him, his eyes still swollen with the sorrow from earlier.

"Do you ever turn off?" Haru asked as he looked at the doctor seeing his eyes look up at him. "You're always working…"

"People are always getting beat up," Hatori answered softly.

Haru looked deeper into the dragon's eyes, sensing the emotion that was taking him over. "You're worried about me…"

"You came home barely in one piece…" Hatori answered curtly.

"No," Haru took a deep breath as the dragon looked away, reaching for more bandages. "You're worried because I haven't transformed yet…" Hatori was about to speak. "Your eyes give everything away, Hatori-san."

"Not _everything_," he answered as he stopped looking for the bandages, taking a deep breath. "Otherwise you'd be underneath an avalanche of a lot of feelings, Hatsuharu. Trust me, they don't show _everything_."

Haru took a deep breath as he smiled. "Fear, anger, annoyance, concern," the dragon froze in place as the boy kept listing them off. "Curiosity_, _joy, and…" Haru smiled. "My God do I see some sorrow in there?"

"Okay, I get it," Hatori tried his hardest not to smile as Haru looked at him. "I'm not used to people reading my emotions so well… well not anybody but _Shigure_…"

"Shigure…" Haru grinned as he said that name. "You and Shigure seem to be at each others throats."

Hatori answered as quickly as possible. "He's just being paranoid…"

"And that concerns you?" Haru's grin disappeared.

The doctor shook his head as he stopped bandaging Haru's leg, a small smile upon his face. "I don't need to talk about this with a sixteen-year-old…"

"You're worried that he's worried. It terrifies you that people are worrying about you," Haru managed to get Hatori's eyes to fall upon him. "You're afraid that if he worries about you he's going to lose you…"

"He's going to lose me someday…"

"You think he's going to lose you now," Haru didn't break eye contact with Hatori, the dragon stiffening in front of him. "You don't want him to worry because you don't want that to be the last thing that he ever feels toward you… Hatori-san…"

Hatori couldn't look at Haru. "He's always worrying about me, ever since we were kids… he's always worried that I work to hard or that I'm so distant. He's always going to wish that he could be closer to me and after all this time… I'm starting to regret all of the times I made him worry…" his eyes then fell on Haru. "I can't believe I just said that to a sixteen-year-old…"

The cow smiled victoriously. "Sometimes it's nice to get stuff off of your chest…"

"I haven't gotten anything off of my chest in twenty-seven years," Hatori continued to bandage Haru's leg. "How much more do you think you can get out of me?"

"How many weeks am I going to be stuck in bed?" Haru asked, closing his eyes as the pain rolled through his leg, Hatori focused on the bandaging.

Hatori smiled faintly. "Kids…"

"Now, tell me what happened with Shigure…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Shigure walked through the door reflecting on what had happened earlier. He could still taste Hatori's breath on his lips as he inhaled. Leaned up against the wall as he heard footsteps come closer to him, being met with a tear streaked Ayame.

"Aaya?" Shigure asked as he looked at the snake. "Are you alright?"

Ayame shook his head. "They're coming for all of us," his voice grew quiet; something that Shigure didn't think was possible. "Aren't they?"

Shigure bowed his head. "So you heard…"

"Yeah," Ayame nodded as he looked at the dog, his body was stiff. "I heard. But Kisa…"

Shigure closed his eyes as he thought of Kisa: she was next. His breathing stopped as he remembered the look on Haru's face as he explained what their fate was going to be. He moved closer to Ayame whose breath was trembling as he heard the news, trying to take it all in. None of them were going to be alright throughout this event: not Hatori, not Ayame, not Shigure. Slowly they were all going to fall to ruin, and Shigure saw first hand what this had done to them.

"How are we going to tell her?" Ayame asked as he looked at Shigure. "We have to tell her."

"How do you tell anyone that they are about to be hunted, Aaya?" Shigure asked as he looked away from his sobbing friend. "How are we going to tell Momiji? And then after that…" he closed his eyes tightly. "We're going to lose someone that we never wanted to…"

Ayame's heart sank as his voice trembled. "Tori-san…" his voice was shaking. "How are we… how are _you_…?"

"We'll all be fine, Haa-san's tough. I wouldn't want to be the one who has to go against him," Shigure shook his head as if trying to evade the thoughts from his mind. "And on the off chance that they do succeed in their game… well I hate to be the one who has to face me…"

Ayame examined the look on Shigure's face. "What happened with Tori-san…?" the snake's eyes narrowed. "I never asked you that question. On the phone he sounded out of breath. Is he alright?"

Shigure didn't need any time to generate a lie. "His lungs are trashed, Aaya. Of course he's going to be out of breath under this stress. He's been smoking since high school…"

Shigure remembered that moment in Hatori's arms, feeling his breath on his lips, those hands on his shoulders. He closed his eyes as he tried to take the moment in again, the passion still making him tremble. Ayame was on to them, he was a lot smarter that some would give him credit for. But at that moment, he didn't care what Ayame thought, after all of this time, he knew the snake was aware of what was going on.

"Well…" Ayame looked out the window. "We still need to tell Kisa what's happening… that she's the next one…" his eyes closed tightly. "And then we need to take her into custody."

"I don't know where she'll be safer… Rin and Kagura are staying with Haa-san and I'm going to keep Momiji and Hiro here, but Kisa… I don't know where she'd be better off…" Shigure explained.

"Sad it has to come down to this…" Ayame continued as his eyes didn't leave the window. "We don't know who will live… who will die… and who will be so emotionally damaged that they wish that they were dead… we don't know what's going to happen when this ends… _if _this ends…"

Shigure tried to block out the thoughts of losing everyone that was close to him. He looked at Ayame knowing that it was only a matter of time before they came for him. Both Hatori and Ayame were going to be gone in the same instant, leaving him alone, leaving him behind as they fell into the darkness. His breath caught in his throat as he counted down the days to that moment. Everything was falling out of his reach, slowly slipping through his fingers. The only two that ever mattered to him, the two that were as much of him as he was were going to leave him… for good.

The wind started to sweep outside as the rain started to fall, tears forming in his eyes as the splashing of water hit the ground. His hands shook as he looked at Ayame as he tried to remember the feeling of Hatori's body in his arms. The rain fell harder as his body trembled as Ayame walked closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder as his eyes fell upon the tears. Shigure never broke eye contact with Ayame as the tears formed within his eyes, one falling down his cheek as he heard the crash of thunder.

"Gure-san?" Ayame asked as he became mesmerized by the tears.

"A-Aaya…" his voice was breaking. "You… Haa-san… both of you…" he closed his eyes tightly as he swallowed hard, the trembling growing stronger. "I… I'm going to lose you… no matter what I do…I'm going to lose both of you… and I'll never get you back… no matter what happens… you'll be gone…"

Ayame tried to fight his own tears. "Who said anything about being gone?"

"If they come for you something within you is going to change, whether they touch you or not their going to break you. I can't watch Haa-san break again… I promised myself that I would never see him in that much pain ever again… I told myself… that nothing could touch him…" he swallowed hard as his sobbing began, taking him over. "And nothing could save Haa-san if he were to fall again… not even me… no matter how I tried…"

Ayame closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, the next words sending chills down Shigure's spine. "After all of this time, Shigure… Hatori-san…"

The dog closed his eyes tightly as he took in those words. "Always, Aaya…" his voice shook violently. "_A-always_…"

* * *

There have been a lot of questions revolving around this story. I am now just eluding to the reason why this is called _Cassandra_. As for the questions dealing with pairings, you will have to read more to find out (there is a little of Haru/Yuki as well as Haru x Rin, you will see as it goes on.)

The drama is on hold as he go back to horror in the next chapter and I will elude more to the reasons why the story is called _Cassandra_.

Like what you read? Feel free to PM me a requst. See profile for details.

Also feel free to review. And vote in my poll, the story with the most votes will be my top priority.


	8. The Eyes

**Pairing:**This chapter contains Hatori/Shigure and Haru x Rin, as well as references to Hatori x OC (Akane)  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:**There is also OOC (always put it there to be safe), language, talk of sexual content, talk of death, violence, references to torture, and blood. There are also some errors that I didn't pick up.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Fruits Basket**, Natsuki Takaya does.

* * *

Kagura lay on the floor as he eyes fell upon the ceiling, Rin in the corner as she looked at Haru's sleeping form. It had been a week since the horror had struck them, a week since the two of them thought that they had lost Haru forever. Still the pain burnt as they looked at the boy. Rin took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, Kagura's attention moving toward her.

"Worried about him?" Kagura asked as she sat up. "Don't be…"

"How can I not be worried? He's an idiot," Rin shook her head. "He's lucky that he's only got that many stitches. Hatori-san says he should be in a body bag…" her eyes feel on the boar as a smile rolled across her face. "What's so damn funny, Kagura?"

Kagura sighed. "Hatori-san isn't exactly in the right state of mind these days…"

"Stop fantasizing," Rin snarled.

"It could happen. I'm old enough to know that both Hatori-san and Shigure-san have been close since they were young," the boar ran a hand through her hair, the horse ignoring her. "You see them all over each other…"

"You know you can just be friends, Kagura…" Rin explained.

"Yeah, you and Haru are such good friends…" Kagura took a deep breath. "I mean if friends have sex with each other than you guys are the best of friends."

"Hatori-san and Shigure-san aren't having sex…"

"_Yet_…" Kagura smiled. "You saw the sparks."

"I saw Shigure-san want to punch Hatori-san out…" Rin shook her head as she looked over at Haru. "The two of them were together when they found him. It must have been horrible for both of them. No words could describe what they must have felt. And Shigure-san's a writer so that doesn't come easy…:"

"So you think that's why they've been avoiding each other all week?" Kagura asked as she looked up at Rin.

"Hatori-san's the dragon; they're already on the second animal. It's only a matter of time until they get at him. Shigure-san… he's scared for him," Rin sighed. "Because if Hatori-san does get killed… we're all fucked…"

Kagura shook her head. "We can't think like that?"

"If it weren't for him Haru would be dead, Kagura," Rin explained. "What if they do the same to Hatori-san? Who's going to save his ass when it's on the line? We know that if they get him… they'll get him… and then we're all as good as dead."

Kagura bowed her head as she took a deep breath. "Then we'll just have to fight back…"

"Not everyone has your spirit… or your right hook," Rin answered, his voice almost distant.

"I know. But if we all work together, there's nothing we can't do right? Hatori-san… all three of them did something to get those people to back off…" Kagura thought deeply as she looked over at Haru. "Maybe if we all work together we can divert them…"

Rin glanced over at Haru's shaking form as she felt a chill roll through the window, taking her over. "It's just gotten cold…" she looked out the window, the day was sunny and bright, yet the sensation of death rolled through her body: something was coming. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Everyone knows what they're to do, right?" Katsu asked as Akane and Tsubasa got out of the walking to their own, both of them moving quickly as they placed their daggers in the sheaths. "You two are going to the dog's place, you're going to look for the rabbit or the tiger."

"How will we know who's who?" Tsubasa asked as he looked at Akane.

"You know who the dog is, right?" Akane asked, opening the door to the car.

"How could I forget?" Tsubasa'a voice was thick with venom. "I could lose my mind a thousand times and remember that face," he opened his own door. "So we go on instinct?"

"_Precisely_," Hikari added as she looked out the window at the two of them. "But don't be a pussy about it, _Tsubasa-chan_. Make those animals pay."

Tsubasa looked at Akane. "If I see that damn dog…"

"You leave that dog to me… your focus is finding the rabbit…" Akane explained as she looked back at Katsu. "We'll meet at the destination, right?"

Katsu nodded. "Yes, Akane-san. Make sure that you're not being followed."

They both drove off in the directions of their destinations all of them knowing that this was the day that they were going to make them all pay. In the broad daylight of the morning, they were all going to go acquire their targets, with only one thought in their mind: make them all pay.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Kisa sat in a room with Hatori, the doors locked behind them. All day bad sensations had been filling him, the thought that they might lose Kisa filling the atmosphere. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as he heard footsteps outside the house. It was probably a family member just out for a stroll, that's what he kept telling himself as he held on tightly to the young girl.

"Hatori-jiisan?" she asked as she was buried deeper in his chest. "Why are we hiding?"

Hatori knew that he couldn't hide it from her. "I felt a chill in the air this morning…" he looked into her eyes. "The same kind of chill the day that Hatsuharu and Yuki were taken from us. I know that they're on their way, they want to destroy us all."

"Why are we hiding?" Kisa asked. "What about the others?"

"Kagura and Rin have vowed to protect you…" he took a deep breath. "And they won't harm Hatsuharu. They want _you_… but they're not going to get you," he heard another set of footsteps. "But if they come in here, you have to climb out the window and run as far away from here as you can, understand?"

Kisa's body shook within Hatori's arms as she felt his heart race in his chest, his breathing speeding up. Her breathing and pulse almost synchronized with his as they heard more footsteps. At that moment she looked up into Hatori's eyes, her own starting to water.

"I won't leave you…"

"You're going to have to…" he took a deep breath. "They don't want me unless they can get Momiji too… besides, they seem to like to go two at a time…" he held on tighter to her. "But I will die defending you…"

Kisa closed her eyes as the footsteps came closer. "Hatori-jiisan?"

Hatori held her tighter. "It's alright… we just have to be quiet now…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Shigure sat in a room with Momiji, his eyes falling on the window as he swallowed hard, holding the gun in his hand. He wondered if they were all doing this, if they were all locking themselves in a room. Hatori and he had a conversation yesterday about how they should separate Kisa and Momiji so that the group would have to split up to get both of them. He closed his eyes tightly as he imagined Hatori doing the same thing. His heart broke as he had no communication with the doctor, the two of them too far away to know what was going on.

Ayame, Hiro, and Kyou were ready to fight for Momiji after seeing what happened to Yuki. Shigure closed his eyes as he caught a glance of Momiji, seeing the boy shaking in the corner.

"Is this it?" Momiji asked. "Is this the end for me?"

Shigure looked over at him. "No… we're all going to be alright…"

"Ha'ri…" Momiji took a breath. "Is he going to be alright?"

Shigure froze as he heard the sound of a car pulling up to the house. "I don't know…" he tried to fight the fear that was taking him over as he heard the doors close. His heart stopped as he heard them come near the door, everything spinning on a strange axis. "It's begun…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Katsu walked through the house, not hearing any noise. They were onto him. He looked over at Hikari who loaded her gun quickly as they walked deeper into the house, their eyes circling the area. He kept going until he heard a sigh come from Hikari's lips followed by an earth shattering firing of her gun. She was growing impatient, her green eyes, searching the room, sensing a presence.

"Hikari-san!" Katsu whispered, his voice full of anger. "What they hell are you doing?"

"Scaring them out," she answered as she walked through the house. "Do you want to stay here forever? We've got business to attend to…" she walked ahead of him. "You can stay here… I'm going to find that damn dragon and I'm going to make him pay for last time…"

"Hikari-san, the dragon has nothing to do with this. He's _mine_," Katsu looked around. "Let's go upstairs, you take one door, I'll take the other…"

The two of them ran up the stairs, Katsu's heart was racing in his ear as he ran. He could sense the dragon, he could feel him breathing and it was only making him move faster. He walked until he saw a door in front of him, his hand moving to try to open it. Hikari ran in the other direction, looking for another door to break in to. But Katsu stayed at the door, freezing as he could sense what was in there. He tried to open it, only feeling that it was locked.

_They're getting smart_, he moved to grasp the sword from his back, grasping the hilt tightly as he tried to jam the blade into the door, trying his hardest to break the lock, he heard muffled screams from the other side of the door, his heart racing as he heard the cries of a young girl.

"Hatori-jiisan!" a girl cried.

Katsu tried harder to get the door open, adrenaline rushing as he heard that name. _We meet again, Souma Hatori,_ he pushed harder against his sword. _Would you remember my face? Would you remember my name? Ten years have gone by, but you were always the brightest of all of them…_

The door finally opened as he looked at the sight of a man holding a young girl. "Hello…" Katsu announced as he held on tighter to the sword, his hand shaking as he saw the dragon advert his eyes from him. "_Hatori_…"

Hatori's eyes fell back onto the man that was in front of him, his body visibly shaking as he froze in place, holding on tighter to Kisa, unable to let go of her. "Y-you?" Kisa was shaking in his arms; she too was frozen as the man walked closer. "You're the one…?"

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, _Hatori-sempai_?" Katsu asked as he walked closer to them, the dragon freezing in place. "Now let go of the tiger, or I'll kill you…"

Hatori looked down at Kisa and then at Katsu. They had no place to go.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Shigure heard the sound of a dagger grinding against the door, Momiji looking at the window as he took a deep breath. "Do I go out the window?"

Shigure shook his head. "No… hide…"

Momiji's eyes were wide as the dog said that. "Shi-chan… I can't just leave you…"

The older Souma's eyes fell on the door. They didn't want anything to do with the dog. The rabbit was their goal. They were already on their way to secure the tiger, Hatori no doubt being caught in the crossfire. Too many had suffered through this: Yuki, Haru, now Kisa and Momiji were going to be taken over by this horror. He closed his eyes tightly as he knew this had to stop, even if it cost him his life.

"Momiji…" Shigure breathed. "You have to trust me…" his eyes were clouding with tears.

_Haa-san, please be alright…_

"No matter what happens you won't come out…"

_Don't die…_

"You have to stay hidden…"

_Please don't die…_

He closed his eyes tightly. "You can't let them get you…"

"_After all this time, Gure-san?"_

Shigure's eyes were watering as he looked away from the rabbit, trying to ignore them trying to break in. _Haa-san… please… if you die I will hate you… I will never forgive you…_

The door opened as a woman walked in. Shigure's eyes went directly to hers, looking deeply into them recognizing them. He froze in place as he looked deeper into those eyes, his heart stopping as it all came back to him. The days that they were in school, the days that Hatori used to look into those eyes, they were all flooding back. At that moment he knew who was standing before him, he knew the face, he knew those eyes.

"_You_?" Shigure asked, his voice shaking.

"You remember my face?" Akane asked as she walked forward. "I'm flattered. You never were one to forget a pretty girl. I was surprised that you and Hatori didn't recognize me earlier…"

Shigure's body shook. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Akane walked closer to the dog. "I'm here to get the rabbit. You see I know what you are, I have for a while now… you tried to keep it so secret, tried to protect yourself from outsiders, but here we are, in your house, ready to take those who are close to you."

Shigure closed his eyes tightly as he saw the dagger in her hand, her body moving closer to him. Momiji was in the room, hiding from her, his body shaking as he hoped that he wouldn't find him. He kept his attention on Akane, trying to ignore Momiji'a presence. Her eyes fell onto him, a smile on her face as she moved closer, pointing the dagger at him.

"What's with that face, Shigure?" Akane asked as she moved even closer to him, her hands on his shoulders, watching him flinch. "Oh calm down, Shigure, you know when I touch you, you don't transform," the dagger's tip dug slightly into his flesh, his breath catching in his throat as his whole body shuddered.

"Please… what do you want?" Shigure's eyes were starting to water as his nerves were on fire. "Why are you doing this to us?"

"Shigure…" she smiled as she stood up. "It's not me that you should be worried about… it's our leader. You're lucky he's not here. It's a pity though… Hatori never stood a chance."

"If you hurt him, I'll…"

"You'll what? You'll kill me?" she laughed as she closed her eyes, her hand tightening on her dagger. "I'm not afraid of you… you can do whatever you want because we will have Hatori, he's going to die. But it's all up to Katsu when we kill him."

Shigure closed his eyes tightly as he heard footsteps all over the house. Yet in the heat of an invasion all he could think of was Hatori. He looked up at Akane seeing the smile on her face as she thought about what had happened to the dragon. His whole body shook as he tried to imagine the monsters that were with him. He closed his eyes as he knew all was lost.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Haru awoke from his bed to look around the room; he could sense the presence of someone in the room. He looked around the darkness to try to see who was within the walls of the room he was within. He could feel them breathing, he could feel their eyes staring at him. As he rose from bed, he finally heard the words echo off of the walls.

"Hello _Bessie_," he heard someone call out, his attention fell onto those deadly green eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Haru asked as she walked closer.

"You know, it's impolite to not address someone's name when you see them for the first time. Then again, I'm not sure if I ever introduced myself. The name is Sorano Hikari, and I'm the one who's been sent to kill the tiger…" she moved closer to Haru, his body visibly shaking. "I don't know what you're so afraid of, I never hurt you Hatsuharu."

Haru narrowed his eyes as he took a deep breath, his body shaking with anger. This was the woman who had broken Yuki, this was the woman who had tortured his cousin, this was the monster that destroyed everything that he held dear. He wanted to move forward, the sensation of killing her flowing through his body. He watched that smile roll across her face as she moved closer to him, the clicking of her heels filling his ears.

"Well it seems like you're getting better," she smirked, her voice thick with malice. "I guess Akane went easy on you… she usually makes her prey beg for death, even days after she had her hands on them."

"I'm not prey," Hatsuharu growled. "I'm a human…"

"That's debatable isn't it _Bessie_? You see when I think human; I don't think of someone who can transform into a cow. I think of someone like me. Some like how you are now…" she watched the confused look plague his face, snickering evilly, Haru's heart stopping almost completely as his head started to swirl. "You haven't transformed because we cured you…"

"C-cured me?" he shook his head as his vision started to cloud. "How did you cure me?"

"We have our ways. If we can't kill you, at least we can make you a little less disgusting," Hikari looked out the window as she heard Haru's breathing speed up. "Don't worry, I didn't give any to that rat… after all, he's not my target is he?"

"Who is?" Haru didn't have any time to waste.

Hikari didn't hesitate as she answered. "The tiger…"

"Kisa?" Haru almost jumped out of his bed. "You bitch. She's just a child!"

"She is an abomination!" Hikari's eyes lit up as her heels clicked violently, her body lunging forward. "She's a monster that doesn't deserve to live. As are you and all of your family! And every single one who is my target will not get away like you. No, they will suffer the death that they deserve to suffer, they will die like the animals that they are. You were one of the lucky ones, she is not. She is in the next room and as Katsu takes care of that insolent dragon I'm going to go get her. How does that sound to you?"

"It sounds like your underestimating Kagura and Rin, they'll take you down!" His voice went quiet as he heard the woman laugh.

"Those two wimps, I took them out already. They weren't very much protection," she pouted her lips as Haru looked away from her. "They're not dead, _Bessie_ so you can wipe that look off of your face."

"What do you want with me?" Haru asked, his voice shaking.

"I wanted to see how you were; it's been too long since we saw you. We thought we would pay you short visit," her eyes glowed with hunger as she looked at Haru, his body shaking as he looked deeper into emerald irises.

"I don't know what you want, but you won't get it!" Haru watched as she walked closer to the door.

She turned and said one sentence that haunted Haru to the core. "Oh but I already have, _Bessie_. I've gotten exactly what I wanted…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Katsu fell to the ground next to Hatori, their eyes meeting each other. Hatori shook his head as he tried to block out the memories that were within them. He took a deep breath as he felt those hands up against his neck, fingers running along his flesh. He looked over at Kisa who was standing in the corner. Katsu's attention was no longer on her, he only cared about Hatori. He looked at her as if begging her to leave the room to hide away from them.

"She can run all she wants, Hikari-san will get her soon enough," Katsu's lips moved into a smile.

"Why don't you care about her? She's what you came for…"

"How do you know that?" Katsu asked as he pressed his fingers deeper into Hatori's skin, the dragon wincing at the pressure. "First comes the rat, then the cow, then the tiger, then the rabbit, and then guess what comes next Hatori-kun," he pressed his fingers deeper against Hatori's neck almost choking him. "The _dragon_!"

Hatori gasped for air. "Please… just get out of here. Stop doing what you're doing…"

"I can't," Katsu looked deeper into Hatori's eyes, his body shaking for a moment as he looked deeper into his hazel irises, his hands trembling up against him.

Hatori took a deep breath as he looked up at the man, finally calling out his name. "Shunsuke… please, don't do this," he closed his eyes tightly. "Shunsuke!"

Upon hearing his name, Katsu wrapped his hands around Hatori's throat tightly, hearing him gasp for air as tears fell from his eyes. He pushed him deeper into the ground as he looked down at the dragon, feeling his body convulse in pain underneath his touch. Hatori opened his eyes to see Kisa staring at him, her eyes watering as she tried to come closer. He the looked up at Katsu his eyes meeting the darkness of Katsu's onyx eyes. As his gaze continued her felt the grip around his neck start to loosen up, traces of water along the edges of his attacker's eyes.

Hatori could feel the hands loosen, but they never left his neck. All that he could feel were those eyes looking deeper into his, suffocating him as he gasped for breath. Katsu couldn't move. He could only look down at him and say one single word.

"Cassandra…"

He covered Hatori's eyes, blocking out the sight of those irises as he wrapped his free hand around the doctor's neck. Hatori faded in and out of consciousness, his breath ceasing within his chest. His eyes watered up against Katsu's hand, there was no way he could get out of this.

That was when he heard the footsteps.

* * *

It seems like forever since I updated this story. I thought now would be agood time to put the next chapter up. All I can say is school has been insanium in the cranium!

I hope you all liked this chapter and there has been more reference to the title (apparantly Hatori and "Cassandra" have the same eyes.) But every chapter that goes by you will learn more and more about the title of the story.

The next chapter they will try to seize both Kisa and Momiji and only God knows what they'll do if they get them.

Like what you read? Feel free to PM me a request. See profile for details.

Also feedback gives me inspiration to work on my stories more.

And if you haven't already vote for this story in my polls. The more you vote, the faster the updates for that story.


	9. Kisa

**Pairing:**This chapter contains some Hatori/Shigure and references to Hatori/OC (Akane)  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:**There is also slight OOC, language, violence and blood, some sexual content, and talk of death.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own **Fruits Basket**, Natsuki Takaya does.

* * *

"Tell me if you've hurt him!" Shigure roared as he watched Akane toss her dagger from her left hand to her right repeatedly, her eyes not leaving his. "What did you do to him, you bitch!"

"I don't know, do you think that I know where Katsu is and what he does all the time?" she smiled snidely. "The answer to that is no, I don't. And I like to keep it that way. Just thinking of what he's doing to Hatori…"

Shigure moved closer to her, his eyes burning. "If he's hurt, I swear to God…"

"What? You're going to kill me?" she chuckled as she looked deeper into his eyes. "You're good at that aren't you, Shigure. I always knew that if there was one thing you could do really well, it would be killing someone. You threaten to kill me, but I've been at your mercy this whole time and you haven't lifted a finger to destroy me."

Shigure's body felt heavy as he felt her presence overpower him. "He's done nothing to you! Hatori's never harmed you! Your problem is with _me_, so why don't you leave all of them out of it?"

Akane's voice filled with venom. "You think that's what it's all about? Killing _you_? We don't want to kill you, Shigure, not yet anyway. What we want is to make you pay for what you did to us," she held onto the dagger tighter as she looked into his glistening eyes. "Hatori means something to you… something more than any of these other animals do. But what is it about Hatori that you love so much?"

Shigure's voice was stiff. "You know why, you once felt it," he shook his head as he looked deeper into her eyes. "Didn't you… _Hanabi_!"

Akane shook at her real name as she pointed her dagger at him. "Shigure, you know that it hurts me to kill him. But you have to understand that I have no choice, I wish I could stop it… wait… no I don't."

Shigure fought the tears in his eyes. "Please kill me and leave him alone."

"You're not mine to kill, Shigure," she lowered her dagger. "I would love to kill you right here for what you did. But I have more important errands to which I must attend," she looked over at the closet, putting a finger to her lips. "Be vewy quiet. I'm hunting wabbits."

"Hanabi, he's not in there!"

"Then you shouldn't have a problem if I look," she moved closer to the closet. "You don't understand do you, Shigure. That day, it's always going to come back to haunt you, you should just give up."

Shigure watched as the closet opened, his heart racing as he closed his eyes, feeling the tears roll from them. He had lost. Hearing Momiji's cries as Akane pulled him out made that all too clear. Shigure took a deep breath as he tried to regain his composure, his eyes opening to the situation seeing the pain that these people had caused. He looked into her glare and it all came to life.

"We're going to stop you…" Shigure breathed as he shook in anger.

"No you can't, Shigure. You can't keep putting this off in order to save Hatori from death. If we don't do this, we're going to get him anyway," Akane pouted her lips condescendingly. "I'm so sorry."

Shigure's body shook. "Hanabi."

She ignored him. "Tsubasa!"

He froze as he heard that name being called, his eyes falling to the doorway as he saw the one called Tsubasa. His face haunted him as he looked at it. His heart stopped in his chest as Tsubasa walked into the room closer to him, hate filling his eyes with every step. As the young man was standing in front of him, Shigure knew that for the first time all day that this was all over.

"Hello Shigure," Tsubasa breathed as he looked into the dog's eyes. "You look surprised to see me."

Shigure shook his head. "What are you…?"

"Doing here? I'm here for the rabbit, Shigure, what kind of question is that?" Tsubasa pulled out his dagger, pointing it at Shigure's left eye, the dog shuddering as he saw the point in his vision, his body temperature rising. "And as much as I want to kill you, I can't. You're safe for today."

Shigure shook his head. "I don't know why you're doing this, and maybe I don't want to know. But I know one thing: I'm going to stop you."

"Stop us?" Tsubasa asked, lowering his dagger. "No one is going to stop anyone here. We've already started to win and you know it. It's killing you. After what we did to the cow and the rat, you know that there is no recovery. Their outer scars are healing, but what's going on inside their brains? What are they thinking right now? They're wishing that they were dead, and there's nothing you can do to erase that."

Shigure felt the tears forming in his eyes, trying desperately to fight them. "You're wrong."

"We won't fail this time. The tiger and the rabbit will die, there's nothing you can do about that. So why not save these two the trouble and just let them go. Or are you waiting for the next round?" a malicious smile rolled across Tsubasa's face as he looked deeper into Shigure's watering eyes. "Are you waiting until we take the dragon and the snake?"

Shigure's reflexes kicked in as he moved forward to strike Tsubasa, but he couldn't bring himself to as the first tear rolled from his eye. He could hear Akane's laughter as his body shook, his breathing becoming heavy as his emotions took him over. He opened his eyes seeing Momiji in Akane's arms, Tsubasa standing up to walk to her side. He watched as they left with smiles on their faces. He was unable to move, unable to follow them. All he could hear were the words that Tsubasa had said. The next round was going to kill him. They had gotten what they wanted.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Katsu's hands loosened as he heard the door open. "Get the hell off of him!" his attention snapped to the doorway as he saw the last person he would ever expect to see on his feet.

"Hatsuharu," Katsu breathed, never removing his hands from Hatori's neck. "I thought you'd be in bed recovering…"

Haru walked closer looking down at the two men. "I don't know what you want with us, but I think it's time that you get out of here." Haru moved closer to Katsu as he looked in the corner, seeing a terrified Kisa. "Get out of here Kisa…"

Kisa didn't need to be told twice. She quickly ran out of the room leaving Haru alone with both Hatori and Katsu. Hatori's coughing filled the air as he shook up against the floor, trying desperately to catch his breath. Haru's body shook with every struggling breath that filled his ears; his eye sight was glued on the man before him. This was the monster who started all of this. This was the monster that had hurt Yuki. His body shook as he moved closer to him, Katsu's hand moving to his sword as the ox moved forward.

"You don't want to do that," Haru breathed.

"Come any closer and I'll kill the dragon…"

"No you won't. You'd ruin the order if you did that. Both Momiji and Kisa are still okay. Hatori's number five," Haru moved closer. "You wouldn't risk messing everything up just to prevent me from attacking you."

Katsu scoffed as he looked down at Hatori. "You'd be surprised what I'd do when it comes to this guy. If I could I would kill him right here, right before your eyes. And there'd be nothing that you could do about it…"

"Then why haven't you already? You've had so much time. Go ahead," Haru's voice was thick with malice as he looked into Katsu's soul, the man starting to shake as the glance passed through his body. "Kill him."

"Hatsuharu?" Hatori shook his head. "What the fuck…?"

"Kill him. You said you could." Haru's eyes fell onto Hatori. "He disgusts you."

"What are you doing?" Hatori asked struggling to his feet, the force of Katsu's hand pressing him deeper into the ground. "You don't want to do this, Shunsuke," his body shook as he looked into Katsu's eyes. "Please… think of what Cassandra would have wanted."

Haru's eyes grew wide. "Cassandra?"

"Cassandra? How dare you speak of Cassandra," Katsu's hand wove into Hatori's hair, pulling him aggressively to his feet. "You son of a bitch!" He pulled tighter as Hatori choked on a scream. "I'll kill him. I'll kill him right in front of you. I'll have you bathe in his blood."

Haru looked into Hatori's eyes and saw something he never thought he'd see so easily: he was scared. Everything stopped as tears fell from Hatori's eyes, the sword pushed up against his neck. He was shaking in Katsu's grasp, his arms heavy as he was pulled tighter.

"Please don't do this," Hatori was begging for his life. "Please Shunsuke…"

"But Hatsuharu wants me to. Can't disappoint him," he moved his sword up against Hatori's shoulder, running the blade along his skin, leaving a pool of blood in its wake. "It won't take long. Not with all of the hate I feel toward you."

Hatori looked into Katsu's eyes. "Please don't do this…"

Katsu's eyes met Hatori's before he closed them, looking away. "Don't look at me like that, Hatori. Don't look at me with those eyes. It'll be quick if you look away. It'll be painless."

Hatori closed his eyes and bowed his head as Katsu raised the sword to his neck again, shaking violently as he felt the blade dig into his skin. Haru looked at Katsu seeing the inability to kill Hatori deep in his eyes, his hands shaking up against the sword. Katsu's hand relaxed as he started to pull the sword away.

Then a sound filled the air akin to thunder. Haru could see it all, the look on Katsu's face, the look of surprise in Hatori's eyes as he looked down at his stomach. Blood started to flow from him as he started to lose the ability to stand. Haru looked at the door and saw her again: Hikari. As she walked into the room, he could feel his anger boiling over.

"Hikari-san!" Katsu yelled as he let go of Hatori. "What are you doing?"

"I've got the tiger. We need to get out of here," she breathed as she looked over at Haru. "Hello _Bessie_. Nice to see that you're up."

"You bitch…" Haru breathed as he moved closer to Hatori. "Hatori, are you okay?"

Hatori was trembling as he put looked up at Haru, his breath heavy. "Haru… Kisa…"

"Shhh," Haru breathed as he moved his hand to the wound on Hatori's stomach. "Oh my God…" he breathed heavy as he moved his hand to his vision seeing the blood rolling down his fingers. "Why aren't you transforming?"

The sound of heels reached Haru's hearing. "Relax," the blond woman breathed as she walked closer. "All my bullets are infused with the cure. He's been cured in his final moments of life. He won't die a monster." Hikari looked into Katsu's eyes. "We have to go now, Katsu-chan."

Katsu looked down at Hatori, shaking his head. "This isn't going to end here. We'll finish this some other time," he placed his sword in the sheath. "I'll deal with you later, Hikari-san."

As they walked through the door, Hatori closed his eyes, his breath catching in his throat. "Go after them, Haru," his body shook violently as he looked in the direction of the door. "Stop them before they…" he inhaled sharply. "Don't let them kill Kisa."

"I can't leave you like this…" Haru's voice shook.

"Don't worry about me," Hatori smiled breathlessly. "You have to stop all of them. They're doing something that you will never fully understand. You have to stop them, Haru…"

Haru shook his head. "I can't leave you…"

"I'd rather die than have any of you die… remember that," he looked toward the door. "Now go Hatsuharu… go…"

Haru backed away from Hatori as he looked at the door tears rolling down his cheeks as he glanced back one last time to see Hatori shaking on the ground, covering his wound, breathing heavily. But as he saw the smile that was on Hatori's face, he knew that everything was going to be alright. The tears in his eyes fell as he turned around and walked out of the door.

_This could be the last time that I see Hatori alive. _Haru walked away from the room as he heard heavy breathing in the room behind him. He had to make a choice. He had chosen to save Kisa and Momiji. He walked away from Hatori thinking of the words that he had said to him.

"_You have to stop both of them. They're doing something that you will never fully understand. You have to stop them, Haru…"_

"I will Hatori, I will."

* * *

This chapter is long overdue, I'm sorry. My life has been pretty hectic lately and I'm sorry that it's short, but I didn't want to drag it out way too long. I also know that this chapter leaves you with a lot of questions. Are Momiji and Kisa going to be okay? Is Hatori going to die? Who is Cassandra? And what are these people trying to accomplish?

The next chapter we will see what happens to Kisa and Momiji as well as delve deeper into what these people want with our heroes.

Like what you read? Feel free to PM me a requst. See profile for details.

Also feel free to review. And vote in my poll, the story with the most votes will be my top priority.


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